High alert in MP after rifles stolen from army camp

 Two unidentified imposters in army uniform conned army sentries at Pachmarhi cantonment in Madhya Pradesh and escaped with two sophisticated Insas rifles and 50 live cartridges in the early hours on Friday, the police said.

The army officials have reported the matter to the police in the adjoining district headquarters at Hoshangabad which has sounded high alert in the state.

Madhya Pradesh police have launched a state-wide hunt for the conmen, said the Hoshangabad district superintendent of police M.L. Chari.

Army officials reported the matter to the police almost two hours after the incident.

"The Military Police apparently investigated the incident before formally lodging a written complaint with the police", the SP said.

The suspects disguised as army officers came in a taxi to the army check post and asked the jawans to call some personnel from the camp. The suspects were apparently familiar with the deployment of personnel.

While the one asked a sentry to pass some orders to the staff at one point the other impostor asked the other sentry to call a junior commissioned officer. While unsuspecting sentries were engaged in talks the two culprits took away the guns and cartridges and were believed to have headed towards Piparia railway station about 55 kms away.

The taxi driver, who ferried the duo to the camp and back to the railway station, was being questioned. The CCTV system at the railway station was defunct.

"Police stations across the state have been asked to be on alert and keep a close eye on key transit points all over the state," MP Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) S.W. Naqvi said. "Vigil has been ramped up in MP following the incident," he added.

Pachmarhi is one of the oldest army locations in Madhya Pradesh, set up by the British way back in 1872. The Army Education Corps unit located here has trained army personnel from Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Afghanistan, Kenya, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and some other nations.IANS