CBI takes over probe into May 2005 JNPT arms seizure case

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh case to take over the Mumbai police’s probe into the case related to the seizure of a cache of foreign-made small arms, cartridges and a silencer, worth Rs 40 lakh, from a spot near Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in May 2005. The Mumbai police, which had probed the case and submitted two chargesheets, alleged that the cache was imported illegally via sea from Bangkok by gangster Chhota Rajan, who is incarcerated in Delhi since his deportation in 2015 from Indonesia, and his suspected aides, including Bharat Nepali who was killed in Bangkok in 2010.

The consignment was concealed in one of the 27 drums carrying grease in a container that was awaiting clearance from the customs, said a CBI source. The contents had initially been scoured, one after another, by the police team with the help of steel rods, when one of the drums was felt to contain heavy materials. On checking closely, the consignment was found inside nine packets, in which there were 34 foreign-made revolvers, three pistols, a silencer and 1,283 live cartridges. The seizure was effected by Mumbai Crime Branch Unit -11’s team and was then touted as a key action in the police’s counter-underworld drive, said the source.

The consignment was recovered from a spot near Kaprole village, JNPT. The Mumbai police had filed its charge sheet in September 2005 against five men, including Patel, Nepali and the then absconding Rajan, under sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating, the Arms Act and the MCOCA. Subsequently, a supplementary chargesheet was also filed.

Rajan was arrested in Indonesia on October 25, 2015 and deported to India on November 6, 2015.