Kolkata/Midnapore:
A rifle that had the arsenal number of a weapon missing from Silda after Maoist attack on Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) camp was part of a huge cache of arms recovered by police near a CPM party office in West Midnapore on Sunday prompting the CID to probe whether there is any CPM link to the massacre of 24 jawans.
"Among the arms recovered from Enayatpur is an INSAS rifle whose arsenal number matches that of a rifle missing from the Silda camp since the attack. So the ADG CID has been asked to take a relook at the case and see if there is a CPI-M connection to the attack," state DGP Naparajit Mukherjee told newsmen in Kolkata.
As many as 24 EFR jawans and a civilian were killed in the Maoist attack last year.
Mukherjee also said that in another haul, 58 pairs of camouflage uniforms, used by the security forces, were seized from the CPM office at Singda More under Patashpur police station of East Midnapore district.
"The seizure was made after breaking the lock of the office. A case has been registered by the East Midnapore district police superintendent and the culprits will be arrested soon," he said.
Mukherjee said the possibility of a CPM link to the Maoist attack would be looked into also because Shilda and its adjoining areas were under the party's dominance.
He said that besides the INSAS rifle, the haul from under a mound of hay in Enayatpur comprised one AK-56 rifle, eight .315 rifles, a US-made 30.06 rifle, one .375 rifle, 22 pipe guns and 136 rounds of ammunition.
The arms, wrapped in plastic, were spotted by villagers who informed the police. Three days ago, 17 rifles were seized from the same party office at Enayatpur, police said.
In reply to a question, Mukherjee said that in the event of any concrete proof of a CPM connection to the Shilda attack, those responsible would be arrested.
Besides the haul at Enayatpur, about 5 km from West Midnapore district headquarters town, 15 .315 rifles, three long-range country-made arms, a long range cannon and 490 crackers were recovered from a field at Kesasole, also under Kotwali police station in West Midnapore, he said.
Two muskets and 200 rounds of 12 bore ammunition were seized from a field at Khamar under Rajarhat New Town police station in North 24-Parganas district, Mukerjee said.