Pune: Police Unaware For Nearly A Day As Seven Pistols Stolen From Bundgarden Property Room, All Recovered

Pune: Seven pistols were stolen from the property room of Bundgarden police station, and the police remained unaware of the theft for nearly an entire day. The incident came to light after the suspect allegedly threatened a man with one of the stolen pistols late at night. Following an overnight search, the police recovered all seven firearms.

The suspect has been identified as Rakeshkumar Sanjaykumar Chitekar, a nomadic scrap collector originally from Kalaburagi, Karnataka. Police have registered a case against him and arrested him.

According to police, the incident took place around noon on Aug 29 at the property room located in a building opposite Central Building in Pune.

Chitekar, who allegedly consumes alcohol, was collecting scrap in the area when he reached the property room. He allegedly forced open the rear door and entered the room. Police said he initially stole some beer bottles, consumed the alcohol and then took seven pistols kept inside the room as case property.

The suspect reportedly carried the firearms with him throughout the day. At around 10.30 pm, he reached the area near Sadhu Vaswani Chowk, in front of Bundgarden police station, where he allegedly pointed one of the pistols at a man and threatened him.

The man informed the police, following which Chitekar was taken to the police station. During questioning, he allegedly admitted that he had stolen the pistol from the building opposite Central Building.

While examining the firearm, a police officer noticed the letters “BL” written on it. This raised suspicion that the weapon had previously been seized by the police in connection with a crime. The officers then questioned Chitekar further, during which he allegedly revealed that he had stolen six more pistols.

When police took him into custody, the bag containing the six firearms had been left behind at the location where he was detained. However, by the time officers went looking for it, another nomadic person had allegedly picked up the bag and left.

Police searched for the bag throughout the night and examined CCTV footage from the area. The footage showed a person picking up the bag. Following his movements, police reached the General Post Office area, where they found the bag hidden near a tree.

The bag was opened in the presence of police, and all six remaining pistols were recovered.

Police have registered a case against Chitekar for allegedly attempting to break into the property room and have arrested him. The circumstances surrounding the security of the seized firearms and how the suspect managed to enter the property room are also being examined.