The Pimpri-Chinchwad police seized six domestic-made pistols along with 15 ‘live’ cartilages from two men, one of whom has a history of 23 cases against him.
The second accused works as a security staffer at a local car showroom.
The arrested duo have been identified as Ganesh Maruti Mali, 26, a resident of Baburao Dhore Bhavan in Old Sangvi, and Gyanoba alias Gotu Maruti Gitte, 30, a resident of Bank Colony in Parali, Beed.
On March 6, Mali was caught near a bakery in Kalewadi, Pimpri-Chinchwad, in possession of a domestic-made pistol with two rounds and a pistol-shaped lighter. He was then booked under Sections 3 and 5(25)(27) of Arms Act along with Section 37(1) with 135 of Maharashtra Police Act, which has been registered at Wakad police station.
Mali, who works at a car showroom, was on the police radar due to social media posts about weapons in his possession, according to assistant police inspector (API) Ambrish Deshmukh of Unit 4, Pimpri-Chinchwad crime branch.
“An ongoing trend among suspects is that they tend to post pictures and videos with weapons and when they are caught, they declare fake weapons. Mali also was in a possession of a pistol-shaped lighter. Our people kept track of him for two months,” said API Deshmukh.
{{/usCountry}}“An ongoing trend among suspects is that they tend to post pictures and videos with weapons and when they are caught, they declare fake weapons. Mali also was in a possession of a pistol-shaped lighter. Our people kept track of him for two months,” said API Deshmukh.
{{/usCountry}}Police naik Lakshman Adhari of Unit 4 kepts track of Mali on social media. “We wanted to ensure that he was caught when he was in possession of the actual weapon,” said Adhari.
Upon interrogation, Mali led the police to Gite, the man who supplied him the weapon. A team of crime branch officials found Gite in Parli Vaijnath in Beed.
Gite confessed to possessing a stash of weapons that he intended to sell. The weapons were found in a bag hidden in a kiosk in Wakad.
Collectively, the police recovered six weapons, 15 ‘live’ cartridges, and a pistol-shaped lighter, totally worth Rs 1,64,100, from the duo.
Gite further led the police to a weapons’ dealer named Kulsingh Jaswant Singh alias Sardar, a resident of Gram inghana in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh.
Sandeep Bishnoi, Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissioner has announced an award to the team that made the arrest.
“All security staffers in the area will undergo a verification check to see if they have a criminal record or are in possession of weapons,” said commissioner Bishnoi.