DISCOVERY of as many as 157 live cartridges of self-loading rifles (SLR) in a nullah under the bridge in the Gorewada forest area near new Katol Naka by an alert citizen sent the entire Police Department into a tizzy on Saturday. The ‘unclaimed’ ammunition stock has now raised several eyebrows about the law and order situation during the on-going winter session of the State Legislature despite deployment of more than 11,000 security personnel across the Second Capital. Though Shatnik Bhagwat, Director of Gorewada Zoo and Gorewada Forest area, confirmed that the live rounds were found, senior police officials were tight-lipped about the seizure of ammunition for reasons best known to them.

 

Bhagwat told ‘The Hitavada’ that he had received information from the police that the live rounds were found in the forest areas, which they seized. If the sources are to be believed, a man stopped near the bridge in the Gorewada forest area to attend nature’s call. Suddenly, his eyes fell on the bag lying unclaimed. Out of curiosity, he checked the bag and was shocked to find bullets in it. He immediately alerted the police. The information provided by him about the discovery of unclaimed live rounds in large quantities caused a stir among senior police officials.

 

Soon, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Rahul Madne, Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr Abhijit Patil, Senior Police Inspector (Gittikhadan) Mahesh Sagde rushed to the spot. The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) was summoned. Cops seized the cartridges and took them into their possession. Officers from Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), too, visited the spot as the news about the ammunition spread like jungle fire among the security personnel deployed in the city. The BDDS searched the nearby areas for more than three hours but nothing suspicious, other than the cartridges, was found in the vicinity. Preferring anonymity, a police officer said that some suspects were being quizzed in this connection.