The Bapatla Rural police who are probing the Arms Act case, found that a minor boy who was pursuing intermediate in Uttar Pradesh, played a vital role in supplying a country-made weapon and cartridges to an extortion gang in Guntur district.
Police who were shocked over the development, are trying to trace the kingpin in the case and detect the place and make of the ammunition.
Two persons -- B. Narasimha Murthy and his associate A. Chandrashekara Reddy – natives of Alluru village under Chandole police station limits demanded Rs.15 lakh from a trader A. Anjaneyulu, of the same village. When the victim refused to concede their demand, the duo opened fire on Anjaneyulu’s house to threaten him on October 28 and escaped.
Police arrested the two accused on November 1, and recovered a single barrel country-made gun, 16 live rounds and three empty cartridges from them. The accused procured the weapon to extort money from businessmen, said Guntur Rural Superintendent of Police J. Satyanarayana.
During investigation, it was revealed that the student’s brothers and uncle migrated to Tenali, Ponnur and Bapatla areas from Uttar Pradesh, two decades ago and were in cloth business. The boy, a native of Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh came to his kin (in Guntur district) during summer vacations, and developed contacts with the extortion gang.
“According to the boy, one person who developed friendship at his college dragged him into the racket by offering money. The accused, Narasimha Murthy and Chandrashekara Reddy, deposited Rs.30,000 into the boy’s bank account, and the person who supplied the gun paid Rs.5,000 to the student for mediating the deal,” Bapatla Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) A. Bhaskar, who is investigating the case told The Hindu on Sunday.
The team led by Bapatla Rural Circle Inspector K. Mallikharjuna Rao, who questioned the student said the name and other details given by the weapon supplier to the boy were found to be false.
“We are trying to identify the main accused in the case, who promised to supply another weapon to the same gang for Rs.40,000 through the student. Police would crack the case soon”, said the DSP.
