Ballarpur police seize sharp-edged gupti from man with record during Navratri patrol

Police on patrol ahead of the Navratri festival in Ballarpur town of Chandrapur district detained an accused and recovered a sharp-edged gupti, a concealed blade, from him. The action was carried out on the afternoon of Sunday, October 11, in the Nag Mandir area of Dr Rajendra Prasad Ward. A case has been registered at Ballarpur police station under the Arms Act. The recovered gupti has been valued at about Rs 500.

According to police, Sub-Inspector Jogdand and Police Constables Purushottam Kailas Chikate, Santosh Pandit, Milind Atram, Phulchand Lodhi, Mahesh Kukudkar and Shantakumar Ghose of Ballarpur police station were patrolling the station's jurisdiction in a private vehicle in view of Navratri. During this, they received reliable information from a secret informant that the accused, Dhuvva alias Shahrukh Munna Sheikh, who lives in Dr Rajendra Prasad Ward and is on the police record, was moving around near Nag Mandir with a sharp weapon in hand. The information also said he was doing so with the intention of spreading fear among people.

On this tip-off, police immediately took panch witnesses along and reached the spot. When the police team and the witnesses reached the Nag Mandir area, a man was seen standing there as the informant had described. According to police, he threw the weapon he was holding to one side as soon as he saw the police vehicle. Police detained him in front of the witnesses and asked his name and address. He gave his name as Dhuvva alias Shahrukh Munna Sheikh, 32, a resident of Dr Rajendra Prasad Ward, Ballarpur.

Police said the accused initially gave evasive answers during questioning. Later, when police took him into confidence and questioned him firmly, he retrieved the weapon, which he had thrown and hidden in a cement pipe lying in nearby garbage, and handed it over in front of the witnesses. The panchnama drawn up in the presence of the witnesses recorded the seizure of an old iron gupti from the accused's possession. It has a plastic handle, and the blade is pointed and sharp.

According to the panchnama, the gupti is about 53 cm long in all. The handle is 10.05 cm long, the length from the handle to the tip is 42.05 cm, and the blade is 3 cm wide. Its estimated value is Rs 500.

A case has been registered at Ballarpur police station against the accused, Dhuvva alias Shahrukh Munna Sheikh, under Sections 4 and 25 of the Arms Act, 1959, for possessing a sharp weapon without permission in a public place with the intention of spreading fear among people. Sub-Inspector Karima Bapuji More is investigating the case further.