6 guards from J&K held with 25 rifles in Thane

Six men were arrested on Saturday night by officials from Kasarwadawli police station for keeping 25 rifles. The accused were nabbed based on a tip-off police officials received from the DCP's (Zone-5) office. All six were booked for possessing arms with the vicious intent of spreading nuisance in the society.

The 25 firearms that the police recovered from the accused

Upon receiving the information, a team of six police officials raided Tukai chawl in Kasarwadawli village in Thane around 8.30 pm on Saturday and recovered 25 rifles that were hidden in an aluminium box. All the six accused were arrested from the spot.

They were identified as Ashpak Khan (30), Majhar Khan (21), Safeek Khan (21), Fajaeed Ahmed (20), Majid Khan (30) and Mohammed Shaikh (28). Officials said the men are from Jammu and Kashmir and had shifted to Thane just two months ago. All six worked as security guards for Maharashtra Rajput Security Guard and Private Detective Services.

Copspeak
Senior Inspector Vilas Suryavanshi from Kasarwadawli police station said, "The group has been in Mumbai for the last two years and had recently shifted to Kasarwadawli. Interrogation revealed that they had purchased the weapons for Rs 6 lakh from a man named Guljaar Khan, who is currently believed to be in Kashmir."

All six accused were produced in the Thane Court yesterday and were remanded in police custody till September 19. They were booked under sections 3, 24 (1) (B)(A) and 35 of the Arms Act and Sections 37(1) and 135 of the Bombay Police Act. Officials said that the exact reasons for the storage of weapons by the group would be ascertained upon further investigation.