Externed criminal held with pistol meant for US Army

An externed criminal's arrest has ruffled the feathers of intelligence agencies after police recovered an illegal US-made pistol, solely meant for use by the US Army, at his Wadala residence on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off, the Wadala Truck Terminal (TT) police laid a trap and nabbed the accused Badua Jamal Pasha alias Sukka (23), after he had entered the city limits. While conducting a search at his accommodation at MHADA's transit camp in Bhakti Park, Wadala, a team comprising of Inspector Agawne, Sub-Inspectors Santosh Kadam and Ganesh Kanade found two pistols at his residence.

Representation pic

Police said that out of the two weapons, one had a âMade in US' stamp embossed on it, and also mentioned that it was meant only for the Army. Following his arrest, several investigation agencies, including the ATS and Intelligence Bureau officers, rushed to Wadala police station and are now interrogating him to ascertain the source of procurement.

Nagesh Jadhav, senior police inspector at Wadala TT police station, said, "The accused has a criminal record and was externed from RAK Marg police station. We received a tip-off that he had entered the city limits and accordingly a trap was laid. But when we nabbed him, the case took a twist after we found the pistols."

ATS chief Rakesh Maria said, "We have sent a team of officers to question the accused."

Badua has been booked for possession of arms and also for violating his externment order. He was produced before the Kurla Metropolitan Magistrate Court and was remanded to police custody.

According to RAK Marg police station records, Badua was externed from the city a year ago due to the increasing cases of assaults registered against him. His externment was supposed to end in February. u00a0 u00a0 u00a0