Three held with illegal firearms at Panvel

Three people, who allegedly transported illegal firearms, were arrested by the Navi Mumbai crime branch on Saturday. The police recovered three country-made pistols

Three people, who allegedly transported illegal firearms, were arrested by the Navi Mumbai crime branch on Saturday. The police recovered three country-made pistols and six live cartridges from them.

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Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap on the Mumbai-Goa highway at Panvel and arrested the accused. The arrested people are Sunil Sable, 45, a resident of Panvel, Sameer Khan, 27, a resident of Kolhapur, and Ritesh Naik, 30, a native of Karnataka.

Pravin Patil, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said, “We had received information that three suspicious looking persons were coming to Panvel. We alerted our officials.”

“After a few hours, one of the teams spotted the three people on the Mumbai-Goa highway and they accosted them based on suspicion. On searching their bags, they found three country-made pistols and six live cartridges. They arrested them ,” he said.

The police booked the accused under sections 3 and 25 of the Indian Arms Act. “We are trying to find out where they got the firearms from,” Patil said.

Sable has 11 cases, including a murder and attempt to murder case, registered against him. Khan has four cases against him including a kidnapping and extortion case. “We have not found any criminal record of the third accused so far,” said Patil.