2 minutes of readingFebruary 5, 2026 22:09 IST
The crime branch of Pune city police has recovered four pistols and five live cartridges, marked ‘KF’, from two historical narrators.
A prima facie investigation revealed that the four pistols were procured from firearms gangsters linked to Umarti village in Madhya Pradesh, which was raided by the Pune city police in November last year.
Police have identified the accused as Rohit Durgesh Dharmadhikari (24) of Old Sangvi and Abhishek Raju Tenkal (23) of Shivajinagar.
Acting on a tip-off to police officers Surendra Jagdale and Prashant Shinde, a crime branch team led by inspector Ram Rajmane and sub-inspector Gaurav Dev laid a trap and nabbed the two accused near Dnyaneshwar Paduka chowk in Shivajinagar on Wednesday.
During a search, police recovered from his possession four country-made pistols estimated to be worth Rs 1.6 lakh and five live cartridges worth Rs 4,000. According to a press release issued Thursday, the 7.65mm cartridges were marked “KF.”
A police officer said KF could represent Ammunition Factory Khadki (AFM) in Pune. An investigation is underway to determine whether the seized bullets were actually manufactured at AFM or whether their manufacturers printed KF stamps on the cartridges.
Police said bullets made with AFM are sold legally to people with gun licenses.
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Police Inspector Rajmane said, “An investigation is underway to find out from whom and for what purpose the accused obtained the firearms. Both the accused have criminal records. They had earlier been prosecuted in cases related to illegal recovery of weapons.”
Additional commissioner of police (crime) Pankaj Deshmukh confirmed that prima facie, an investigation shows that the pistols seized in this case were obtained from Umarti-linked gangsters on the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh border.
The village of Umarti, located in the Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh, has become a hub for illegal manufacturing of firearms, sold under the unofficial brand name Umarti Sikligar Arms, or United States.
A police investigation had revealed that a large quantity of firearms seized from criminals in Pune were procured from arms dealers in Umarti. It was also found that some of the weapons manufactured by Umarti were used in sensational murders in Pune.