UP court convicts 24 security personnel in arms supply case

Rampur: A local court in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur on Friday sentenced 24 security personnel to 10 years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each for supplying arms and ammunition to criminals, Naxalites, and terrorists in 2010.

Special Judge EC Act Vijay Kumar held them guilty on Thursday and delivered the judgement on Friday.

According to Additional District Government Counsel Pratap Singh Maurya, the main accused, Yashodanand, a retired sub-inspector of UP Police in Allahabad (Prayagraj), had died during the trial.

Vinod Paswan and Vinesh Kumar, both havaldars in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), are among those convicted.

The other convicts are Nathiram, a constable, who was posted at Police Training College, Moradabad, constables Ram Kishan Shukla, Ramkripal, Sushil Kumar Mishra, Jitendra Kumar Singh, Rajesh Shahi, Amar Singh, Vansh Lal, Akhilesh Kumar Pandey, Amresh Mishra, Rajesh Kumar, Manish Rai, Vinod Kumar Singh, Om Prakash Singh, Rajya Pal Singh, Loknath, Banwari Lal, Akash, and Dileep Rai.

Three civilians, Dileep Rai, Akash, and Muralidhar Sharma, are also among the convicts, the ADGP said.

Fourteen of the accused persons were serving the UP Police and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC).

The ADGP further said that all 24, who were out on bail, were taken into custody by the court for the judgement and sent to jail after the verdict.

According to Maurya, on April 10, 2010, the UP Special Task Force (STF) arrested two CRPF havaldar near Jwala Nagar railway crossing under the Civil Lines Police Station area of the district and recovered an INSAS rifle, cartridges, and some cash from them.

At their instance, the STF arrested Yashodanand, with Rs 1.75 lakh in his possession, Nathiram, and some armourers (an official in charge of the arms) of UP Police and PAC posted in various districts including Basti, Gonda, and Varanasi.

A case in the matter was booked by Amod Kumar of STF on April 29, 2010, after which Yashodanand, Vinod Paswan, and Vinesh Kumar were formally arrested.

After them, Nathiram was arrested from PTC Moradabad and a case was registered against him in Moradabad.

The rest of the persons were arrested on the basis of a diary recovered from Nathiram during the investigation.

With inputs from IANS