Thursday, July 21 2005 15:22 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Recovery of a sophisticated Rifter gun, exclusively used by the army, from a former Bihar Member of Leader Assembly (MLA) house and a huge cache of firearms following an encounter is giving Bihar police sleepless nights with Governor Buta Singh ordering a thorough probe.

"It's an eye-opener and I have asked the Director to get it extensively probed and firmly deal with persons who procured such a deadly weapon, exclusively used by the army and establish the identities of those who supply it," Singh said today (July 21, 2005).

Four gangsters, ongoing to Rakesh Rai gang, had been killed in an encounter with Special Task Force (STF) personnel of Bihar police at Ramgarha village under Avtarnagar police station of Saran district on July 19 and police had recovered one AK-47 rifle, two regular guns and a large number of cartridges from the encounter site.

The Rifter gun, a military weapon, was seized from the house of former independent MLA Surendra Sharma, which sent the police establishment into a tizzy. "It has been established that it is a Rifter gun illegally kept at the former MLA's house," Saran police superintendent S Akhtar told PTI today (July 21, 2005).

"We are trying to establish whether there are terrorist links," he said.

The military weapon seized by police looks like a rifle but has a longer striking range and firepower. Incidentally, the former MLA is said to be close to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and had supported the party's Government from 1995 to 2000.

Sharma, lodged in Chapra jail, is likely to be taken on remand for interrogation.