Nagpur police nab arms supplier in Hyderabad

Nagpur, Jan 1 (UNI) The Nagpur police today claimed to have arrested a man involved in supplying arms and ammunition to Maoist outfits in the country from Hyderabad.

Addressing a press conference here this evening, Police Commissioner S P S Yadav said a team of officers and men from Nagpur police nabbed Ravikumar Chevuri (33) in Hyderabad yesterday.

Chevuri is suspected to be naxalite sympathiser and said to be a major supplier of arms and ammunition to Maoist outfits, Mr Yadav said.

The huge consignment of arms and ammunition seized by the police in Nagpur two days ago had been procured by Chevuri for some naxalite outfits, Mr Yadav told newsmen. Chevuri, who hails from Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh, had received an advance of Rs seven lakh for the purpose and was to receive another Rs 33 lakh after the actual delivery of the consignment, he said.

Mr Yadav said this was the first time that the Maharashtra police had arrested a supplier providing arms to naxalite groups. ''We are investigating further and delving into the system of supply of illegal arms in the country,'' the Police Commissioner said.

Chevuri and his wife had gone underground immediately after news broke out about the recovery of the cache of arms and ammunition from a car in Nagpur, Mr Yadav said. He had been brought to Nagpur and had been remanded to police custody till January 10, he said.

Chevuri's wife had also come to Nagpur, but had not been placed under arrest, he told newsmen.

On December 28, the police had seized six weapons, 20 magazines and over 4,800 rounds of ammunition of various kinds concealed in cavity of the doors of a car, bearing Andhra Pradesh registration plates, and also arrested three persons in this connection here. The car had been intercepted by traffic policemen at 0030 hrs after it jumped a red light. The occupants were first booked for carrying two weapons 'of illegal bore,' but their evasive replies made the police suspicious, leading to a thorough search of the car and the seizure of the cache.

UNI