UDUPI: In a timely and efficient operation, the Udupi police successfully intercepted a luxury hatchback and arrested three individuals running an illicit firearm ring at Parari Junction in Uppoor village. The police recovered a country-made pistol and two live cartridges hidden inside the vehicle.

The arrested suspects have been identified as Rakesh Marakala, Raghavendra Kanchan, and Vighnesh. Along with the country-made pistol and two live rounds of ammunition, investigators seized high-end mobile phones and the white Maruti Suzuki Fronx car used in the commission of the crime.

The Catch: The incident unfolded on the night of Thursday, July 9, during a routine vehicular checking drive conducted by the local police team at Parari Junction in Uppoor. The team signaled a white Fronx car, heading towards Manipal from the Kolalagiri side, to halt. Upon asking for the vehicle’s registration and ownership documents, the driver grew visibly panicked and began stammering.

Observing the highly suspicious body language of the occupants, the police officers ordered them out and conducted a thorough search of the vehicle’s interior. During the inspection, officers discovered an orange cloth bag concealed inside the dashboard compartment directly in front of the co-driver’s seat. Inside the bag was a hidden firearm. When interrogated on the spot, passenger Raghavendra Kanchan confessed that the weapon belonged to him, but failed to produce any legal arms license or valid documentation.

The police immediately summoned the Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) team to the spot. Expert inspection verified that the weapon was an operational country-made pistol pre-loaded with two live rounds of ammunition.

Suspecting that the trio was transporting the illegal firearm to execute a major criminal plot, extortion, or assault in the district, the police took all three into custody. A case has been registered under the provisions of the Indian Arms Act. Investigators are currently interrogating the suspects to ascertain their criminal backgrounds and trace the illegal supply chain of the firearm.

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