Two held, 9mm carbine, 10 live rounds seized

Two men from Bihar, one from Chhapra and the other from Siwan, were on Friday arrested in Goregaon (East) by Unit 12 of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch for alleged possession of a 9mm carbine with 10 live rounds and an empty magazine.

They had come to the city to sell the weapon to a buyer, Crime Branch officers said adding they are probing if the weapon was meant for the "underworld and beyond." They suspect from the nature of the weapon that it could have been meant for some high-profile target having security cover.

The arrested men, Ravindra Rai (35) alias Munna of Chhapra, and Nazruddin Ansari (36) of Siwan were arrested on a tip-off. "A trap was laid near Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon (East). At 7.30 am, a green Maruti Omni with a Maharashtra registration plate reached the spot. Our officers intercepted the car and searched it. We found the weapon in the cavity where the CNG cylinder should be kept. Both the occupants of the car were nabbed," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy.

Officers said Rai and Ansari told police they were first told the consignment was for a buyer in Indore, but the city where the weapon was to be delivered was changed to Nashik and finally Mumbai. "They left Bihar with instructions to deliver the weapon at Indore. Once in Indore, they were told the buyer is in Nashik. After they reached Nashik, they were told the buyer is in Mumbai," said Roy.

Police pegged the value of the weapon at Rs 6 lakh, and said they are probing to find who ordered the weapon.

"This is a dangerous weapon. Such weapons are usually used against high-profile targets and who may have a posse of security personnel around them. We are trying to trace the supplier and the buyer, and probing where the weapon was made. Whoever sent Rai and Ansari to deliver the weapon trusted them," said Roy.

Investigations revealed that the car had been sold to a buyer in Bihar in 1998. The two were produced in court and remanded in police custody until September 7.

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