Rocket launcher, assault rifle recovered from Bengal’s Purulia

Kolkata, Aug 6 (IANS) The West Bengal Police on Saturday recovered a rocket launcher, a rocket and an AK-47 rifle which it suspects could be part of the arms dropped from a foreign aircraft in Purulia district in December 1995, said an officer.

The weapons were recovered from Khatanga area near Jhalda in Purulia district following the questioning of two arm smugglers, Rathu Pramanik and Jamaluddin Ansari, who were arrested earlier in the week.

"These weapons might be part of the 1995 arms drop case because the area is the same. But we cannot say it conclusively until investigations are complete. Moreover, the case was investigated by some other agency so we cannot say for sure if that is the case," Superintendent of Police Rupesh Kumar said.

On 17 December 1995, a huge cache of arms was dropped from an Antonov An-26 aircraft in Purulia. The case was probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).