Unidentified goons along the India-Bangladesh border allegedly snatched an Insas assault rifle and 20 rounds of live ammunition from an on-duty woman constable of the Border Security Force near Ghojadanga land port in North 24-Parganas on Tuesday night.

Embarrassed by the incident that occurred barely within a week of Union mome minister Amit Shah’s visit to the nearby border; BSF authorities combed the areas and lodged a complaint at the Basirhat police station.

Police joined the BSF in search of the Insas rifle and detained over a dozen of suspected persons.

However, till Wednesday evening, the sophisticated

assault rifle could not be traced.

BSF sources said that late on Tuesday night when the lady constable attached to Battalion-153 was on patrolling duty on a stretch of border near the Ghojadanga land port, a group of goons overpowered her and snatched the Insas rifle along with the ammunition she was carrying.

“The criminals beat up the land constable and snatched her rifle along with the ammunition”, a BSF officer in Ghojadanga said.

Some local villagers informed the BSF personnel at a nearby camp who rushed in.

However, they could neither retrieve the rifle nor nabbed the miscreants.

Police on the basis of a complaint lodged by the BSF’s 153 battalions have begun a probe. But in absence of any CCTV footage, it has become difficult for the sleuths to identify the gang, a source said.

Superintendent of police of Basirhat police district Joby Thomas K. told The Telegraph: “We have got a complaint from the BSF that one of their Insas rifles has been stolen. Accordingly, we have started a case. But no arrest has so far been made possible. The investigation is on and we have been looking into all the aspects.”

Police authorities did not rule out involvement of Bangladesh-based gangs of criminals with the incident and the subsequent passing of the rifle to the neighbouring country.

BSF authorities have begun an internal probe and questioned the lady constable to ascertain if there was any slackness in performing her duty.

However, senior BSF officials in Ghojadanga as well as the South Bengal Frontier Headquarters in Calcutta refused to talk on the issue on record.