Shillong, April 15: The three accused stole a.303 rifle from the MCCL Factory store room at Sohra for money.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police (SP) Vivek Syiem told reporters on Wednesday that they planned to sell the rifle to make money.
The rifle was recovered from the house of Alpha Mary Jyrwa, grandmother of one of the accused, at Mawkisyiem, Sohra.
The weapon was stolen on April 11.
“Sohra police station had taken a lot of pain to actually trace out the accused and finally yesterday they arrested three people,” Syiem said.
The accused are Shaiborlang Jyrwa, Sawbor Sooting and Teilang Sohkhia.
According to the SP, the theft was financially driven.
“The intention was to actually sell it to people who shoot animals or birds. Their purpose is to get money out of it. Anybody who wants to buy a weapon, especially those who want to go for hunting they can use it,” he said.
The SP admitted that inadequate storage of the weapon resulted i the theft.
“It appears that the weapon was not kept in a proper place that was secured and that is how these thieves could get and steal the weapon,” he said while stressing stricter security at such facilities.
“There has to be proper armoury where the security persons should keep their weapons. It has to be a secured place,” Syiem said.
