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Police cancel 22 licences, seize 12 illegal arms in month-long drive
Mumbai police crack down on illegal weapons after Shiv Sena leader's murder, cancelling 22 arms licenses and seizing over a dozen weapons.
MUMBAI: After Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Abhishek Ghosalkar was shot dead last month by an assailant who allegedly used his bodyguard’s weapon to commit the murder, the Mumbai police launched a drive to verify firearm licences and smoke out illegal ownership of weapons. Officials said that over the last month, 22 arms licenses had been cancelled and over a dozen illegal weapons seized.
“We started the verification process soon after the Ghosalkar murder on February 8,” said a senior IPS officer. “Arms licences of people who either had offences registered against them or had not renewed their licenses on time were cancelled. Of the 22, three licences belonged to one Hiren Bhagat alias Romi, who was arrested by the Mumbai crime branch in cases related to extortion and threats to city-based builders.” The police have also seized several weapons for which licences had been acquired in other states and were being used in Maharashtra without informing the concerned department or police.
Ghosalkar was shot dead during an Facebook Live event at the office of Mauris Noronha, a self-proclaimed social activist who allegedly used the pistol owned by his bodyguard Amarendra Mishra. Mishra had procured the arms licence in his native place, Uttar Pradesh, but allegedly failed to register it with the Mumbai police. After the murder, the state government decided to take a strict review of the gun licences issued and the process followed to issue them.
“We always keep an eye on people coming into the city with illegal weapons and take action against them, but after the Ghosalkar murder, we started checking weapon-carrying bodyguards and security guards who had acquired their licences in other states,” said a police officer. “Several were arrested by the Mumbai crime branch and their weapons seized. Many of these guards are hired by politicians and builders, and we are still verifying them and their weapon licenses. If a person carrying arms, for which the licence was taken from another state, fails to provide the details to the local police, action is taken against them under Section 30 of the Arms Act.”
On Saturday, as part of the drive against illegal weapons, the Mumbai crime branch’s Unit 8 arrested an accused, Ravi Manohar Bagadi, a resident of Andheri Sahar Road in Vile Parle. During the subsequent search, a country-made revolver and two live rounds were recovered from him. Bagadi was arrested from Vile Parle based on a tip-off, as he was externed from the city around six months ago due to multiple cases against him. He was earlier arrested by the Vile Parle police for being in possession of illegal arms.
On February 29, Unit 6 arrested three private security guards for using unregistered licensed weapons in the city. The arrested accused were Anil Kumar Mishra, Rajkumar Singh and Devnarayan Jaiswal, all natives of Uttar Pradesh who had procured licensed weapons a decade ago from UP allegedly for their own safety. “However, they brought the guns to Mumbai and did not inform the concerned department,” said police inspector Ravindra Salunkhe. “Their weapons have been seized and the concerned department in their native place has been informed for further verification.”
During the last week of February, the crime branch’s Unit 7 questioned Jamrul Hanif Khan, 26 and Mohammad Yasar Mohammad Iqbal, 34, and seized their weapons which were allegedly acquired from Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir for their safety. They had not registered the weapon details in Mumbai, and were working as bodyguards with local politicians in Ghatkopar.
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