Murud (Raigad) — Two men from Mumbai's Chembur were arrested on Saturday night after a Murud police patrol stopped their SUV on a forest road near Takka Adivasi Wadi in Maharashtra's Raigad district and recovered two rifles, 104 live cartridges and tools used for cutting meat, police said.

Source: Hindustan Times

According to police, a patrol team travelling in a private vehicle was moving along the forest road near Takka Adivasi Wadi at around 8.35 pm on October 24 when a white Mahindra Scorpio approaching from the opposite direction aroused suspicion and was stopped for checking. During the check, officers saw a rifle in the hands of a man seated in the middle seat, and a full search of the vehicle then uncovered a second rifle, the cartridges and the meat-cutting tools.

Police said the seized weapons are an IOF-made bolt-action single-barrel .30-06 rifle and a 'Robust' double-barrel 12-bore rifle. The Scorpio vehicle was also seized, and the total value of the seized goods has been put at about Rs 5,32,810 — yaani roughly Rs 5.33 lakh.

The arrested men have been identified by police as the driver, Crescent Lucas D'Mello, 59, and Grafeel Crescent D'Mello, 23, both residents of Chembur in Mumbai. Police said the two were carrying the rifles, a large number of live cartridges and the cutting tools with them as they travelled along the forest road.

Police suspect the pair were allegedly planning to hunt wild animals, but officers said their actual purpose is still being established and the investigation is continuing. A case has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act. The hunting allegation remains an allegation under investigation; it has not been proven in court.