GUWAHATI: 24 hours after
Assam Police identified the
Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) manufactured
Tavor X95 rifle as the weapon which Ulfa(I) cadres used in an encounter in
Tinsukia district on Saturday night, in which one of its officers
Bhaskar Kalita was killed, it now thinks that a thorough ballistic probe would be required to exactly identify the weapon.
The change of view of the police has come after it found that it has no information about Ulfa(I) possessing the sophisticated Israeli weapon, which is also one of the most favoured weapon by special forces in India, including the CoBRA units of CRPF and BSF as well as special police units of some states.
“We have to carry out a detailed ballistic examination. Normally the weapon used can be identified by the bullet bore. We would like to have more examination,” a top police officer told TOI.
Ulfa, which is for long using Chinese made AK series of rifles, was known to have added another sophisticated weapon, German made Heckler & Koch HK-33 assault rifle in 2013. Ulfa procured its batch of HK series from Thailand.
The HK-33 rifle can fire 750 bullets per minute. It is also manufactured in Turkey and uses the same 5.56 caliber bullets as the Tevor X95.
While AK-series rifles are available for Rs 4 to Rs 4.5 lakh each, HK series rifles cost about Rs 14 lakh each and the X95 is available for a shade lesser at around Rs 11 to 12 lakh in the illegal arms market.
“If Ulfa(I) has the X95, that means Paresh Baruah has managed to acquire more sophisticated weapons even with his back against the wall. It would also mean that this weapon must have landed with other militant groups operating in the region,” the source said.