The Navi Mumbai Crime Branch arrested two persons for allegedly making and carrying country-made rifles on last Tuesday (February 18) in Panvel. The duo by profession a carpenter and an electrician learned the process of making rifles after watching videos on YouTube. They had already sold around five rifles.
On a tip-off, the Crime Branch of Navi Mumbai police caught them with 10 country-made rifles and two live cartridges near Danphata along the Old Mumbai-Pune road in Panvel area. They were coming to Navi Mumbai to deliver the rifles on a motorbike.
The duo were identified as Parshuram Raghav Pirkad, 40, a resident of Nanavali in Khalapur and carpenter by profession and Dattaram Govind Pandit, 55, a resident of Kharwandi in Karjat and an electrician by profession.
Satish Gowekar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) said 10 country-made rifles, two cartridges, one motorbike and a mobile phone were recovered. “Initial investigation revealed that they learned the art of making rifles from videos on YouTube. They had already sold around five rifles costing between Rs15,000 and Rs30,000 each,” said Gowekar. He added after carrying out raids at their village in Raigad district, they also seized materials to be used in making the rifles. According to the official, the same-make original rifle is available between Rs1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh in the market. They were arrested and booked under sections 3, 5 and 25 of the Arms Act and 37 (1) and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act. “They are in this illegal act for around one year and they were on the way to deliver the rifles,” added Gowekar.
