Biggest landmine haul by Army in Kolkata

Kolkata, Oct 12(UNI) In the biggest haul in the city, the Army and West Bengal police in a joint raid today recovered 543 anti-personnel mines and a cache of pistols and bullets.

An Army spokesman said acting on a tip-off, personnel of the Army Intelligence Corps (AIC) and CID of state police unearthed the stockpiled arms and explosives from a house at Shakuntala Park in the Behala area on the city's eastern part.

Three people, including a Lance Nayak of the army, had been arrested. Two of the arrested had been identified as illegal arms dealers.

The spokesman said the seized mines, pistols and ammunition had been stolen from ordnance factories.

He, however, did not rule out the possibility of the involvement of a terrorist group because of the city's proximity to international border and pockets of extremist acitivities. ''We are carrying on further investigation to find whether the arrested persons have links with the ISI or any terrorist group,'' he said.

The spokesman said one of the arrested had rented a house in the area a few months ago. The Army had information that the stolen mines and arms and ammunition were being stockpiled in a house in the Behala area, but did not have the clue about the exact location until the final tip-off.

The joint team of the Army and police had been conducting raids in different parts of the city over the past few days.

The spokesman said there was likelihood of the city becoming a den of illegal arms dealers and the army was trying to bust any such racket.

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