About 620 rifle butts, all said to be rejects, were found dumped in a bush near the IT Park at Navalpattu in outskirts of the city on Wednesday. The butts, the thick end of the handle of rifles, are suspected to have been part of consignments meant for supply to the Ordnance Factory, Tiruchi, (OFT) for manufacture of Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) rifles.
The butts made of fibre material were found strewn in individual pieces and also in a few sacks in a bushy area behind the IT Park and along a nearby canal bank. On being alerted by passersby who found the suspicious objects, police teams rushed to the spot and recovered the butts.
Sources in Police and intelligence agencies said that the butts had been in the possession of R.Rajendran, a retired employee of the OFT, who died in March last year. His wife, Chandra, is said to have disposed them recently as scrap to a vendor, Murugesan, who in turn had thrown them away as he did not find much use with them.
Police teams conducted inquiries with Ms.Chandra and Mr.Murugesan. Further investigations were on.
