Pilibhit, Apr 25: Locals snatched an AK-47 rifle from the members of an Uttarakhand police team that had come to a village in this Uttar Pradesh district in search of an absconding criminal, police said here on Saturday. The criminal had absconded from Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district, they added.

According to Pilibhit Superintendent of Police (SP) Kirit Kumar Rathod, the Uttarakhand police team from Udham Singh Nagar's Nanakmatta police station arrived in Majhara village under the Madhotanda police station late on Friday night, where villagers snatched the rifle from the members of team and ran away.

He said a Special Operation Group, along with three police teams, has been formed to recover the lost rifle and heavy deployment of both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand police has been done.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)