Two members of Pujari gang held; machine gun, pistol recovered

Three days before the Lok Sabha polls in the city, two men working as bouncers at a night club in a five-star hotel, allegedly associated with gangster Ravi Pujari gang, were arrested and a sophisticated carbine machine gun and a pistol were recovered from them, police said today.
Acting on a tip-off that Pujari gang members were to deliver firearms to their aide in Kandivali, a trap was laid last evening when two accused - Deepak Padwal (27) and Amol Sawant (29) - were found moving suspiciously in the area, police said.
"The two were arrested by the Anti Extortion Cell and firearms recovered from them. A carbine machine gun, a pistol, three magazines and 13 live rounds were seized from the duo, who reached Kandivali to hand over the consignment," Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Sadanand Date said today.

Although the seizure assumed significance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls to be held in the city on Thursday, the crime branch chief clarified it had nothing to do with elections.
"The two carriers, who work as bouncers with a popular night club in a five star hotel in Mumbai suburbs, wanted to deliver the firearms to their associate. There was no specific operation by these two linking to the elections," Date said.
Investigators were alarmed to discover the carbine machine gun with the two accused as this weapon is usually used by armed forces, police said.

According to police sources, the two were given these firearms by their associate Kamal Singh Rajput (32), a bouncer in the same night club, who had been arrested from the city by Mangalore police last week in connection with a firing case in their jurisdiction.

Rajput and his colleague Dattatray Waghare had been arrested by Mangalore police from Mumbai with the help of the city crime branch.
"Padwal and Sawant were today produced before a court which remanded them in police custody till April 25. We suspect that the two may have the knowledge about the places where some more firearms are concealed.