In a crackdown on inter-state arms smuggling gangs, Malad Police have arrested two men and recovered country-made guns, a foreign pistol, and live cartridges from them. The arrested accused were identified as Dhiraj Surendra Upadhya, 35, and Ravindra alias Raghavendra Pandey, 35.
According to the police, Sub-Inspector Rafiq Gawandi received a tip-off about a suspicious man near a hotel at Pawan Bagh in Malad West on September16. Acting on the alert, a police team led by Senior Inspector Dushyant Chavan detained Dhiraj Surendra Upadhyay, 35, a Borivli resident, and recovered a knife and a live round from him, as well as a country-made firearm hidden under a railway bridge.
During interrogation, Upadhyay revealed that he had procured the weapon from Ravindra alias Raghavendra Pandey of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, said DCP Sandeep Jadhav. Under the supervision of ACP Hemant Sawant senior inspector Dushyant Chauhan a team including PSI Mohammad Rafique Gavandi and PSI Gaus Sayyed conducted raids in Gorakhpur, and caught Pandey.
During the search of his vehicle, the police said, they found a secret compartment from where they recovered three country-made guns, a foreign-made pistol, two magazines, and 22 live cartridges, including 12-bore rifle cartridges.
