THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 10 people, including a Tamil Nadu native, who were taken into custody by Varkala police on Saturday night for alleged possession of air guns and chloroform were let off after probe revealed that they had no nefarious intentions.
The police had arrested 10 people who were found to be in possession of two air pistols and one air gun, apart from 500 gm of chloroform and a few gadgets used for checking the quality of precious stones. The police had taken them into custody after conducting a raid at their premises near Edaparamb based on inputs that they were into illegal sales of precious stones.
However, the seizure of arms and chloroform from an internationally recognised tourist destination rang alarm bells for the cops, who thought the group members were into things beyond sales of stones. They were then taken into police custody where they were subjected to interrogation. Raids were held simultaneously in the residences of all the accused, but nothing suspicious was found from the places. Apart from the Tamil Nadu native, the group had members from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha districts.
Varkala Police Station House Officer (SHO) Dwijesh S said that the group members were released on conditional bail as they were not found to have committed any offence. Dwijesh said that the group members gave a statement that the chloroform was used to clean the lenses which were employed in checking the quality of the stones.
Regarding the arms, the SHO said the seized arms were air guns and air pistols and that required no licence “The arms and pellets that were seized did not require any licence When questioned, the group members said they had used the guns to shoot birds.”The police said those apprehended did not have any grave criminal history and hence they were released on conditional bail.