Shells of outdated cartridges found at Bikru ambush site

Kanpur: In a surprise finding, slain gangster Vikas Dubey and his aides are said to have used American Winchester .30-06 cartridges, which the United States Army had used in World Wars I & II, the Korean War, and the war in Vietnam, in the Bikru ambush killing eight policemen, including deputy SP Denendra Kumar Mishra.
The startling fact came to light following recovery of empty shells of 11 American Winchester .30-06 cartridges from the scene of crime on July 3. The recovery has foxed police which have launched a probe as to from where did Vikas and his henchmen procure the cartridges — which are no more in use in the country. Police officers suspect that the gangster and his aides probably used the cartridges in Springfield rifles.
The cartridge was introduced in United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in use until the late-1970s, said forensic experts.
“The ‘.30’ refers to the caliber of the bullet in inches. The ‘06’ refers to the year the cartridge was adopted, 1906,” said a senior forensic expert.
He added that the .30-06 remained the primary cartridge used in U.S. Army’s rifles and machine guns for nearly 50 years before being replaced by the 7.62×51 mm NATO and 5.56×45mm NATO, both of which are in current use.
“The .30-06 cartridge could be fired from the bolt-action M1917 Enfield rifle, the semi-automatic M1 Garand rifle, the semi-automatic M1941 Johnson rifle, the Famage Mauser, the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and numerous machine guns, including the M1917 and M1919 series. It served the United States in both World Wars and in the Korean War, its last major use being in Vietnam,” the expert added.
In the morning after the Bikru ambush, police investigators had found 72 live and empty cartridges, including 11 empty American Winchester shells.
Police had also recovered several cartridges of AK 47 and 9 mm pistol, revolvers and country-made guns.
“Going by the inputs provided by forensic experts, we are now investigating as to how and from where gangster and his aides had procured American Winchester .30-06 cartridges,” said IG Zone Mohit Agarwal.