Patna: A former Jan Suraaj candidate was arrested in Samastipur for allegedly handing his licensed rifle to suspended sub-inspector Saroj Singh for a criminal act and later reporting it stolen. Raj Kapoor Singh, who contested from Mohiuddinnagar in the 2025 assembly elections, was arrested from Andaur village on Saturday night.The case came to light after a joint state STF-district police raid at Saroj’s house in Sultanpur village on June 6, 2025, led to the recovery of several weapons, including an AK-47, Insas rifle, carbine and two rifles.Saroj, his uncle and nephew were arrested. During the investigation, the serial number of one recovered rifle matched that of Singh’s licensed weapon. Police said Singh then approached the court and lodged a complaint claiming it had been stolen.Samastipur SP Arvind Pratap Singh said, “The probe established that the rifle had not been stolen and that Raj Kapoor had allegedly handed it over to Saroj. The alleged criminal act could not be carried out before the STF received information about the plan and raided Saroj’s residence, leading to the recovery of the weapons.”A separate FIR was registered against Singh after the theft complaint was found to be false.The recovered INSAS rifle was traced to Mantu Kumar, security personnel deployed at an EVM warehouse in Rohtas, where it went missing. The source of the AK-47 and carbine remains untraced.
