Jharkhand police station chiefs get AK-47 training

RANCHI - A crash course on firing AK-47 rifles was conducted Saturday for officers in-charge of 124 police stations located in Maoist infested areas of Jharkhand, police said.

“As many as 124 officers in-charge of different police stations were provided a crash course in how to fire AK-47 rifles, as also pistols,” an officer of Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP) told IANS.

The training took at the Bariatu firing range in Ranchi.

“Each officer was asked to fire at least 10 rounds from AK-47s and pistols. These officers posted in Maoist infested areas rarely get a chance to practice with sophisticated weapons,” the officer said.

“Such training would be provided on a regular basis,” the officer added.

Jharkhand police chief Neyaz Ahmad had Friday called a meeting of officers in-charge of police stations in Maoist infested areas. The meeting was convened following the massacre of 76 paramilitary troopers in Dantewara district of Chhattisgarh earlier this week.

Ahmad asked the police officers to be careful while leading operations against Maoists and be sensitive towards villagers.