8 country-made firearms, 14 live cartridges seized; 10 held as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar rural police bust inter-district gun trafficking network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In a major crackdown, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar rural police busted an inter-district illegal arms trafficking network, arresting 10 accused and seizing eight country-made firearms and 14 live cartridges during a series of operations over the past 10 days, the police said.The accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the Arms Act, 1959. Investigations revealed that the network was supplying weapons across districts, moving beyond mere possession cases to expose alleged dealers and suppliers operating in neighbouring regions.Superintendent of police Prakash Jadhav said the action followed intelligence inputs about illegal firearm circulation. “The district police will continue to take strict and sustained action against those possessing, trading or using illegal weapons to spread terror.

Maintaining law and order is our highest priority and no one taking the law into their own hands will be spared,” he said.The biggest breakthrough came in Bidkin, where acting on a tip-off during night patrol, the local crime branch trapped and arrested one Ganesh Ughade, of Mulani Wadgaon in Paithan taluka, with a country-made pistol and five live cartridges. The probe that followed led the police to the alleged supply chain, resulting in the arrest of five more accused, including three suspected dealers from Gangapur and Ahilyanagar, and the seizure of three more firearms and three cartridges.

Those arrested include Ajay alias Roman Harishchandra Shinde of Mandwa (Gangapur), Rashtrapal Dravidrao Tupe of Uttar Jayakwadi (Paithan), Akash Bhima Ingale and Santosh Baburao Gaikwad of Nevasa, and Nishant Umesh Panhale of Shevgaon in Ahilyanagar district.In a separate operation in Gangapur, the police arrested Kishor Shivnath Jadhav (28) of Abdulpur and recovered a country-made firearm and one live cartridge.

Bidkin police later arrested Akash Ramesh Nikam (32) and Lakhan Chotilal Rathod (30), seizing two firearms and four live cartridges from them.In another action near Ajanta, the local crime branch nabbed Abasaheb Kakasaheb Misal (24) of Janefal Dabhadi in Jalna district with a country-made firearm and one live cartridge.Additional SP Prashant Swami said the operation dismantled the supply chain. “The investigation successfully dismantled the illegal supply chain of country-made firearms and would help prevent serious crimes in the future by choking the source of illegal weapons,” he said.Paithan SDPO Sunil Patil highlighted the coordinated effort behind the breakthrough. “The coordinated investigation enabled police to trace the network beyond individual offenders and identify the dealers allegedly supplying country-made firearms across district boundaries, marking a significant breakthrough in the case,” he said.