BSF constable held for stealing weapons

A joint team of state ATS and Agra police on Friday arrested a BSF constable driver for allegedly stealing two carbines and two magazines from a BSF outpost in Cooch Behar district at the Indo-Bangladesh border. The accused allegedly told the ATS that he had been annoyed with the authorities for not sanctioning his leaves, due to which he had stolen the arms. Later, he allegedly changed his statement and claimed he stole the arms for money, and that he was trying to get in touch with criminals in Agra to sell the carbines.

As per an ATS official, the BSF jawan – Chandrapal Singh, hailing from Arsena village in Sikandra area of Agra – had been under surveillance after BSF officials alerted ATS about the theft, as he was a key suspect.

“Chandrapal Singh joined BSF in 2011. Presently, he was posted in battalion number 42 at Khetabarkutti border outpost in Dilhata area of Cooch Behar. He had taken leave for 30 days starting from February 18, but stayed in Dilhata. He went to the outpost at around 1.30 am on February 19, and after snapping power cables, he entered the arms room by opening the locks using a duplicate key. He stole two carbines and left,” said an ATS official.