‘None of the cartridges found are prohibited’

The Powai police have no leads yet in the live cartridges case. An officer from the Powai police station, who did not wish to be named, because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said that they suspect it could turn out to be a case of someone trying to get rid of bullets that were no longer of any use.

The Powai police have no leads yet in the live cartridges case. An officer from the Powai police station, who did not wish to be named, because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said that they suspect it could turn out to be a case of someone trying to get rid of bullets that were no longer of any use.

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“None of the cartridges found as yet are prohibited. Anyone with a valid licence can get 50 such bullets per year as per law. A majority of the bullets found are of .22 calibre which are not used much these days,” said KS Chaudhari, assistant commissioner of police (Sakinaka division). “Based on available facts, it appears that someone may have thought of dumping these bullets here, as it is a convenient place. However, we are investigating the case from all angles,” he added.

An officer from Powai police, on condition of anonymity, because he is not authorised to speak to the media, added that the bag containing the cartridges appears to have been dumped only a few hours prior to the discovery of the bullets. “If the bullets had been dumped many days ago, they would have given out a stench, which is not the case,” he said. The bullets do not have any marking that could lead the police to the place from where they were purchased, he added.

“We will question shop owners or locals who normally are present in the area if they saw anyone carrying a bag. Since we suspect the bullets were lying there only for a few hours, the person may have come on Sunday night,” he said.

DCP (zone 10) Suhas Warke said, “One bag containing bullets was found on the drainage gate. We suspect the accused wanted to throw this bag in the lake too; however it seems to have got entangled in the drainage gate and was spotted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation cleaners.”