Mumbai: In a major operation, the Mumbai Police's Crime Branch arrested five individuals from a hotel in the Andheri area, seizing seven different firearms. The arrested suspects have been identified as Vikas Dinesh Thakur (24, Gorakhpur), Sumit Kumar Dilawar (26, Sonipat), Devendra Saxena (24, Indore), Shreyas Yadav (27, Gopalganj), and Vivek Kumar Gupta (22, Rajasthan). The police recovered seven pistols and 21 rounds of live ammunition from their possession.
Preliminary investigations by the Crime Branch revealed that the suspects had arrived in Mumbai to supply these weapons. The firearms were reportedly brought from Madhya Pradesh for distribution in the city, though investigations are ongoing to determine the intended recipients.
DCP Datta Nalavade from the Crime Branch stated that, so far, no connections to any gang have been found during the investigation, but the inquiry is still underway. The police are also probing who the weapons were meant for and the purpose behind their delivery.
According to information from the Crime Branch's Anti-Extortion Cell, the suspects were arrested on March 29 near the Platinum Hotel in Andheri following intelligence input. In addition to the weapons, authorities seized 21 country-made pistols and 21 live cartridges.
One of the suspects, Sumit Kumar, has several pending cases against him in Haryana. The Crime Branch confirmed that all the suspects were acquainted with each other and had traveled to Mumbai via different trains. Vikas Thakur had already been in Mumbai, and he received the other four suspects when they arrived on March 26. He subsequently booked a room for them at the hotel. Further investigations into the case are ongoing.
