The arrested person was identified as Junaid Hussain Shaikh (30), a resident of Ahmednagar.
The Mumbai crime branch sleuths on Saturday arrested one more person in the case wherein drugs and weapons were planted outside a mutton shop to implicate its owner in a false case. Last Thursday, the police had arrested two persons, including a police informer, in the case. The informer had enmity with the shop owner.
The arrested person was identified as Junaid Hussain Shaikh (30), a resident of Ahmednagar. The police had earlier arrested Bandra resident Ejaz Shaikh alias Qureshi (31), and Navi Mumbai resident Ajay Chaudhary (42).
According to the police, on November 29, a constable from the Unit X of crime branch received a tip-off through informant Chaudhary that a few persons would be arriving near a mutton shop at Bharat Nagar in Bandra (E) with illegal firearms. Chaudhary showed the exact location to the police team and left.
While inspecting the area, the police team led by assistant inspector Sanjay Joshi and constable Sachin Khanvilkar came across a plastic bag outside the shop. On opening the bag, the police found two country-made pistols, six live cartridges, four empty pellets, two bogus election cards and two mobile phones without SIM cards.
A crime branch officer said, "We then made inquiries with the mutton shop owner. When the owner was shown the election cards seized from the bag, he identified the photograph on one of the cards as that of his brother. He also said a woman was moving suspiciously near his shop on November 29, and must have dropped the bag there."
Chaudhary then came under the police scanner and their suspicion grew stronger after he did not turn up despite several calls. "We picked up Chaudhary from his residence on December 2. He told us that the said information was given to him by Qureshi, who in turn told the police that in 2012, his relatives had murdered the son of the shop owner's brother and were given life sentence by the court. The shop owner's brother was making efforts in the court to ensure that they did not secure bail. Qureshi then conspired with Chaudhary and a woman to drop the bag containing weapons and drugs outside the shop. Both of them were arrested," said the officer.
A search was carried out at Qureshi's residence and two country-made pistols, 10 live cartridges, a bogus identity card and 100g amphetamine with international market value of Rs 2 lakh were seized. "Inspection of the WhatsApp communication of the mobile phones of the accused has given us some leads about the source of weapons and drugs," said an officer.
On Saturday, the police searched Chaudhary's residence as well, and seized a country-made pistol, three live cartridges, an election card, 55g amphetamine and a mobile phone, said sources.
"During interrogation, Qureshi told the police that Shaikh had procured the weapon from someone. Shaikh was arrested from Andheri (E)," said a police officer.
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