Live Ammo Seized After Boy Stumbles on it at War Vet Hut

By J Shanmugha Sundaram

Published: 12th January 2015 06:00 AM

Last Updated: 12th January 2015 

TIRUVANNAMALAI: The Tiruvannamalai police have seized a total of 30 live bullet rounds from a 15-year-old school student in Ananthapuram village panchayat at  Kannamangalam, after the boy apparently flaunted it at school. They confiscated the ammunition after the panchayat president alerted them on Sunday.

The bullets found in war veteran’s hut at Ananthapuram

The police seized 26 bullets of 9 mm pistol and four bullets of 7.62 Self Loading Rifle (SLR) from Ram (name changed), a Class X student of a government school in the village. Fearing arrest, Ram allegedly provided wrong information that he and his friend Vijay (name changed)found the ammunition in the Ananthapuram foothills. This put the police on high alert, besides initiating a combing operation to find out if there were anti-socials hiding in the area. The search ended after the boy disclosed that he took the ammunition from war veteran Vinayagam’s abandoned thatched hut a week ago. The octogenarian had died in September last. “The boy got the bullets from Vinayagam’s hut on the outskirts of the village. The bullets were made in 1963 and 1964,” said Tiruvannamalai SP J Mutharasi.

Vinayagam had stocked the ammunition in a small container along with other items in his uniform. His son Krishnamurthy (55), who was also an ex-serviceman, was unaware about the ammunition in the hut. The boys had ventured into the hut while hunting a squirrel, found the bullets and took it with them, said the SP. A police team lead by inspector Arivazhagan, found the bullets in the hut when they went to confirm Ram’s claim. “It is not permitted to stock ammunition even for ex-servicemen unless the person obtains a licence,” said a police officer.

The ammunition in Ram’s possession came to light after he went to school wearing a bullet tied to a chain like a locket on Saturday. “The boy had showed some of the live bullets to his friends. One of his friends told me that Ram had bullets and had brought them to school,” said panchayat president M Santhamoorthi. The Kannamangalam police registered a case and let off the boys after a stern warning.