Within a month, Maharashtra has witnessed the third incident of recovering arms in heavy numbers. This time, Maharashtra police caught as many as 25 sharpened swords from an autorickshaw in the Gokul Nagar area of Nanded on 29th April 2022. It has been learnt these swords were brought from Amritsar in Punjab for selling in Nanded. The discovery of such a huge quantity of swords has created a stir in Nanded.
The police searched the rickshaw as they suspected while it was passing by the railway station. As many as 25 swords were found in the search. Police detained two persons in connection with the case. A case has been registered at the Shivaji Nagar police station in Nanded. Amidst increasing crimes, guns and deadly weapons are being found in the search operation of the police, but this is the first time that such a huge cache of swords is found.
It is notable that in a similar case that took place earlier this month in the Pimpri-Chinchwad area of Pune, 92 swords were recovered and all of the weapons were brought to Maharashtra from Amritsar. Similarly, 37 swords were recovered in Aurangabad on 30th March 2022, from the office of a courier company in a parcel sent to Akash Patil of Ahmednagar in Maharashtra by someone named Maninder who lives in Punjab.
Therefore, the Maharashtra police are also looking for this ‘supply from Punjab’ angle which is common in the recent sword recoveries. The police are trying to get to its roots. Why are swords coming to the state in such large numbers? Or is it an attempt to incite major violence? These questions have become a major worry for the Maharashtra police. The challenge now is also before the police to stop this as swords are being caught every other day.
Swords caught in Dhule
This is the third time in the month that the Maharashtra police have recovered a huge cache of weapons. Earlier, 90 swords and daggers were recovered from a Scorpio car while it was passing by the Songir village in the Dhule district on 27th April 2022. These swords were brought from Rajasthan and they were being shipped to the Jalna district of Maharashtra. The Dhule police arrested four accused Mohammed Sharif Mohammad Shafiq (age 35), Sheikh Ilyas Sheikh Latif (age 32), Syed Nai Syed Rahim (age 29), and Kapil Dabhade (age 35) in the case. All four are residents of the Jalna district.
Swords caught in Pune
In the Pimpri-Chinchwad of Pune city in Maharashtra, the police had recovered weapons from the godown of a private courier company in the Dighi area on 5th April 2022. The weapons were kept in two wooden boxes. 92 swords, 2 daggers, and 9 knives were recovered. The boxes were allegedly sent by Umesh Sood, a resident of Amritsar, to Anil Hoon, a resident of Aurangabad. The police had registered a case against the duo under the IPC and the Arms Act.
The matter came to light when the courier company employees scanned the parcels through electronic machines on April 1 and found out that swords were being sent via courier. The employees informed the police about the matter. A team of police officials then reached the spot and recovered 92 swords, 2 daggers, and 9 scabbards. The price of all the weapons seized has been estimated at Rs 3.7 lakhs.
The Pimpri Chinchwad Police commissioner informed that the consignment was supposed to be sent to Aurangabad in Maharashtra. The Police had asked the courier companies to scan the parcels carefully after a similar incident had occurred on 30th March 2022.
Weapons caught in Aurangabad in March 2022
The Aurangabad Police on March 30 had confiscated 37 swords and a dagger from the office of a leading courier company. The Police had then begun the investigation in the case to know that the box filled with swords was sent from Maninder, a resident of Punjab to Akash Patil of Ahmednagar. The Police had also booked them under the relevant sections of the IPC and the Arms Act.
It is worth mentioning that amidst the ongoing controversy over azaan and Hanuman Chalisa over loudspeakers in Maharashtra, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray is soon scheduled to hold a public meeting in Aurangabad of Maharashtra. Aurangabad is situated at a distance of 42KM from the Jalna city where the arms caught in the Dhule district were being shipped.
