Kolhapur: 3 held with 8 illegal firearms, 11 live rounds

KOLHAPUR: Three people involved in alleged trade of illegal firearms have been arrested by the Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Kolhapur police.
Police have also seized six country-made guns and 11 live rounds worth Rs3.11 lakh from them. The accused — Shubham Shantaram Shinde (25), Adinath Tukaram Badekar (38), and Sharmesh Rohidas Rathod (32) — are criminals on police record and have been booked under several cases including the Arms Act at various police stations across the state.
Superintendent of Police Abhinav Deshmukh said, “Our team got information from their sources that Shinde will be coming to Kaneriwadi area on Kolhapur-Bangalore National Highway for selling country-made guns. Based on the information, a team from LCB rushed to the spot and nabbed Shinde and Badekar on Tuesday and seized 4 pistols and 7 live rounds from their possession. Further investigation revealed that Badekar had come to purchase guns from Shinde.”
He added, “During interrogation, we got information that Badekar had handed over 2 guns and 4 live rounds to Rathod. A police team visited Rathod’s house in Mumbai and arrested him. The team also found the 2 pistols hidden in his house.”
Police are investigating the details about from where the accused were buying the guns and who were their probable buyers.