KOLKATA: Twenty one years after drop of a few hundred Soviet-made AK-47s, a million rounds of
ammunition, hand grenades and rocket launchers on four villages Jhalda, Ghatanga, Belamu and Maramu of Purulia district of West Bengal from an Antonov An-26 aircraft manned by Latvian crew on this day, that is December 17, AK-47s of the consignment are still a big hit with the commandos of West Bengal state security forces.
Dubbed as one of India's best kept secrets, the mystery of Purulia Arms drop is still unsolved with court pronouncing that the arms were meant for religious movement Anandamarga but prime accused Kim Davy a.k.a Niels Christian Nielsen claiming that New Delhi knew about the drop and the arms were meant to topple the communist government of Bengal. However, nothing has been proved yet.
That has not stopped the Bengal security forces to use them and shower praises on
the weapons. After the drop, it was decided that some of the AK-47s would be inducted into the commando force of the state police. The guns dropped in Purulia were used against the Maoists of Junglemahal during the height of the second phase of Naxal violence from 2008-11.
"The wooden butt of the Soviet-made AK-47s make firing more accurate than the Czech
variants of today which have folded butt," said an official of police headquarters Lalbazaar.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, hundreds of AK-47s from the various republics of the union and the Warsaw pact countries landed in the developing countries of Asia, Africa and South America to insurgents fighting to topple governments or for secession or for other demands.
"The arms are still in a very good condition. They have mowed down many Maoists of
Junglemahal. Proper care is taken and the guns are used for firing practice," the police official said.
An officer of the special forces of the West Bengal police that hunted down CPI
(Maoist) central politburo member Maloujula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji rank the older guns as more reliable than the newer ones.
"The 'Purulia guns', as we call them in our inner circle who know about the origin of the guns, are very stable while firing. Though they are a bit heavier than the newer AK variants, mainly because of steel magazine instead of fibre used in new AKs, their overall performance is more appreciable. Also, the historical importance of these 'Purulia guns' make them even more precious," he said.