Police officers said that they contacted the Army and paramilitary forces for information on any pilferage from their armouries.
Nine live rounds of SLR bullets found in Siliguri township. (Photo: SNS)
Nine rounds of SLR live bullets were recovered near the residence of the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad Sabhadhipati, Tapas Sarkar, at Matigara near Siliguri today, triggering a commotion in the area. The Siliguri Metropolitan Police, meanwhile, is groping for leads.
“I was very surprised after seeing the cartridges near my residence. The incident sparked off tension in the area and people are panic-stricken, as for the past few months, antisocial activities have been reported here. We informed the police and they recovered the bullets,” said Mr Sarkar.
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The bullets were found less than 50 meters away from Mr Sarkar’s residence at Tumbajote under the Matigara block.
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“I failed to understand why the bullets were kept in this area. There are no camps of either the Army or paramilitary forces, so it is beyond my imagination how the ammunition got here,” Mr Sarkar said.
The SLR is a semi-automatic rifle, which has the ability to fire multiple shots.
Police officers said that they contacted the Army and paramilitary forces for information on any pilferage from their armouries. It is also being speculated that the bullets somehow fell on the grounds from an ammunition bag.
“The bullets belong to the SLR. We are trying to find out the agency, the claimant of the bullets and how the ammunition could be found in the open and whether any other angle is involved in the case. We have contacted the forces and asked them to contact police if bullets are found missing,” said a senior police officer.
Locals spotted the bullets during their morning walk. A local resident, Sukhdeb Jaiswal, said that he was scared after spotting the bullets.
“I was very scared seeing nine rounds of bullets and the residents here are not taking the issue lightly. There should be proper investigations to unearth the truth,” he said.
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