Mumbai police launch crackdown against owners of unregistered firearms

In the aftermath of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Abhishek Ghosalkar’s murder, the Mumbai police have ordered all units to verify the licences of people owning weapons for personal safety and those engaged in providing security services, an official said on Sunday.

As part of their crackdown against possession of unlicensed weapons, the Crime Branch units 6 and 7 arrested three people in 10 days, the official said.

”Security guards and personal bodyguards hired to protect builders, politicians, etc are under the scanner, and their weapon licences are being verified,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Lakhmi Gautam told PTI.

People who have licences from other states and use their weapons in Mumbai have to get their licenses transferred and submit documents related to their firearms to the city police, he said. The action has come following the murder of Abhishek Ghosalkar, son of Shiv Sena UBT leader Vinod Ghosalkar, who was fatally shot in Mumbai last month, the official said. The assailant, Mauris Noronha, later shot himself with his bodyguard’s pistol. The incident took place during a Facebook live session, and the police later arrested Noronha’s bodyguard, Amarendra Mishra, under the Arms Act.

”If a person with a weapon fails to provide sufficient details or documents related to it, he or she will be booked under the Arms Act. It must be noted that people who carry weapons, whether security guards or personal bodyguards, cannot show them off,” the official said. In a recent action, the crime branch’s Unit 7 arrested Jamrul Hanif Khan (26) and Mohammad Yasar Mohammad Iqbal (34) from Ghatkopar on February 21 after they were found in possession of firearms, which they claimed were given to them by an additional district magistrate in Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir for their safety, he said. The duo, however, had not registered their weapons with the Maharashtra police, the official said, adding that a case was registered against them under the Arms Act.

Similarly, the crime branch on February 29 arrested Hanumant Pratap Vishnudatta Pandey (45) after a revolver and four cartridges were recovered from him in suburban Kurla, the official said.

Pandey allegedly provided security services independently and had not renewed the licence for the firearm, which he had procured from Uttar Pradesh, he said. The accused had also not transferred the licence to Maharashtra or informed the authorities concerned, the official said.