Stolen LMG recovered in Punjab, red alert sounded for runaway BSF trooper

Jalandhar: A light machine gun (LMG) and large amount of ammunition stolen by a BSF trooper from Jammu and Kashmir was recovered in Punjab's Jalandhar city on Tuesday by security agencies, a senior Punjab Police officer said here.

The security agencies have sounded a red alert in all neighbouring states for the runaway trooper, Rajeev Ranjan, who hails from Bihar's Darbhanga, and had escaped just before the Punjab Police and Border Security Force (BSF) teams raided the house where he was hiding here, leaving behind the gun and the ammunition.

The LMG was stolen by Ranjan, who attacked and injured his BSF colleague, from the BSF's Akhnoor camp on Sunday (July 24).

BSF and Punjab Police personnel cordoned off the area near a house in Khurla Kingra area of Jalandhar on Tuesday and recovered the LMG and large amount of ammunition from there.

The Punjab Police arrested two persons, Mukesh and Mithun, both from Bihar, on charges of harbouring Ranjan. He stayed in Mukesh's house for nearly two days.

Police Commissioner Arpit Shukla told media: "He (Ranjan) belongs to 89 battalion of BSF in Akhnoor. He took away the weapon on July 24 after injuring his colleague. He had come back to the unit after his leave got over. We came to know today that he was hiding in outskirts of Jalandhar and the raid was conducted. But he escaped before the raid took place. We recovered one LMG, 10 magazines and 250 rounds."

Police and security agencies in neighbouring states Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi were put on red alert to nab the fugitive trooper.