LARKANA, Nov 28: A retired and a serving record keeper of ammunition store at the Qambar-Shahdadkot police lines landed in lock-up on Wednesday in the wake of startling revelations that 163,000 unused bullets of SMG and G-3 rifles were missing from the record.

Ali Raza Makol, serving record keeper and Hidayatullah Mastoi, retired, were put behind bars on charges of misappropriation, cheating and complicity in crime.

Larkana Deputy Inspector General Abdul Khalique Shaikh told Dawn that it emerged during an inspection of the record that 163,000 unused bullets of SMG and 18,500 of G-3 rifles were missing. The inspection and audit wing of the police department unearthed the anomaly and physical verification provided evidence that the huge quantity of ammunition was missing, he said.

He said the FIR had been lodged against the two record keepers and the preliminary probe would be completed within a week.

The matter had been conveyed to the Inspector General of Police, he said.

He said that a committee to be headed by a DIG level officer would be formed to thoroughly probe the case. The committee would also look into ‘slackness’ on the part of senior officers and fix the responsibility, he said.

It would also check to whom the bullets were issued over the past four years and re-inspect the ammunition stocks to further verify record of last four years, he said, adding that the committee would complete the probe within a couple of weeks.

Answering a question, the DIG said that he had ordered inspection of all ammunition stores in Larkana, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Kashmore-Kandhkot which came under the Larkana police range.

Speaking to journalists from behind bars, Hidayatullah Mastoi who said he had retired from service six months ago denied the charges while Ali Raza Makol said that he had held the post just for a year and was unaware about the record of past four years.