For a cash-strapped state, buying crores worth of ammo that can never be fired is akin to shooting itself in the foot.It has been brought to the chief minister’s notice that bullets worth Rs 100 crore, purchased during the erstwhile Congress-NCP’s regime, have been lying unused as they do not fit the standard-issue rifle that police officers of the state use.CM Devendra Fadnavis has now asked additional chief secretary (ACS, home) KP Bakshi to conduct an inquiry into the procurement then made by the home department.The direction follows a letter addressed to the CM by city BJP chief Ashish Shelar, in which he has brought up the matter of the 7.62x51mm NATO belt ammunition — there are some 4.80 lakh of them.Shelar said he had raised the issue on June 13, 2014 during the monsoon session of the state assembly, but the then home minister did not give a satisfactory reply and sought more time. “The explanation did not come for obvious reasons,” Shelar said.He said the bullets have ended up with junk at the compound of the State Reserve Police Group Two in Pune.No guns for this cartridge “The reason for non-utilisation is shocking and scandalous. The entire state does not possess a single rifle which can fire this ammunition. The ammunition is used in medium machineguns (generally used by the military), it is not used by any police force in any state in this country,’’ said Shelar.The procurement is a criminal waste of state resources, he said, and this cannot be neglected. He demanded action against the police officers responsible for bungling up the order. ACS KP Bakshi could not be reached for his remarks, while the then director general of police S S Dayal declined comment on the matter.