BJP leader from Dombivli held for selling air guns, antique weapons including swords

BJP’s Dombivli unit deputy chief Dhananjay Kulkarni runs a shop in Tilaknagar area, ‘Tapasya House of Fashion’, which sells ready-made garments along with antique items.

The deputy chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Dombivli unit was arrested on Wednesday for selling antique weapons and air guns. The Thane crime branch unit-3 have seized 172 items, worth Rs1.86 lakh, from the 49-year-old accused, Dhananjay Kulkarni, including antique choppers, air guns, knives and swords.

More than 100 items, worth ₹1.86 lakh, were seized from BJP leader Dhananjay Kulkarni’s shop. (HT Photo)

Kulkarni runs a shop in Tilaknagar area, ‘Tapasya House of Fashion’, which sells ready-made garments along with antique items. Saju Jhon, senior inspector, Thane crime branch unit -3, said, “As soon as we got the information, we formed a team and raided the spot. We took Kulkarni into custody and on searching, we found 172 antique items, including antique choppers, kukris, knives, swords, guptis and air guns. The market value of all the seized items is ₹1.86 lakh.”

The Tilaknagar police have registered a case against Kulkarni under sections 4, 25 of Arms Act, and section 135 of Bombay Police Act.

“We found that Kulkarni has been selling these items for the past few months. He confessed that he bought a few of the items from Crawford Market in south Mumbai and had ordered a few of them from Punjab and Rajasthan,” said Jhon. Kulkarni was sent to judicial custody after he was produced in court.

Speaking on the issue, BJP MLA Narendra Pawar said, “I am not aware of the incident. I will have to inquire before commenting on it.” BJP state minister Ravindra Chavan did not respond despite several attempts.