PATNA: A special NIA court in Patna on Friday convicted and held five accused guilty in connection with theft of sophisticated AK-47 assault rifles from an ordinance factory in Madhya Pradesh in 2012. However, nine others were acquitted in the case for lack of evidence.
NIA special judge Madhukar Singh announced award of 10 years rigorous imprisonment to a retired Army constable Suresh Thakur, Purusottam Lal Rajak, Niyazul Rehman, Mohammad Imran Alam and Shamsher Alam, who were found guilty of the charges.
However, nine others—Shivendra alias Shailendra Rajak, Chandrawati Devi, Rajiv alias Chunnu Singh, Rizwana Begum, Manoj Singh alias Manji, Manzar Alam, Md. Mursheed alias Surma, Bajrang Shankar and Irfan Alam were acquitted for lack of evidence.
All the five convicts were sent to judicial custody from the court. Though investigating agency had included sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the accused, it failed to provide evidence to substantiate the charges during trial in the court. The case dates back to 2012.