On Saturday, a team of 105 Pune policemen, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Somay Munde, raided illegal firearms manufacturing units in Umarti village, Madhya Pradesh, destroying nearly 50 kilns across four units that were used for molding and producing illegal weapons.Known for producing and smuggling country-made pistols branded as “Umarti Shikilgar Arms (USA),” Umarti had been under police surveillance for some time. A week before the raid, Pune police conducted a detailed recce of the area, travelling discreetly in private vehicles and coordinating closely with Madhya Pradesh ATS and Jalgaon police.The dawn raid, initiated at 4 am, was carefully planned to minimize resistance.
“We surrounded the village early morning, equipped with sufficient arms and ammunition, and deployed a Quick Response Team (QRT) to assist,” said DCP Munde. To maintain communication, police set up a temporary wireless unit and officers wore body cameras linked to a live-feed monitoring system in Pune. Drones provided aerial surveillance throughout the operation.During the raid, police seized five country-made pistols, two live cartridges, four empty cartridges, five magazines, 100 raw barrels, five finished barrels, 14 grinding machines, 15 pistol bodies, six sawing materials, and five choppers.
Metal detectors helped recover additional firearm spare parts buried by the racketeers. Officials noted that few ready-to-use weapons were found since the units mainly produced parts and assembled firearms only upon specific orders from clients, including criminals from multiple states.Investigations revealed that racketeers from Umarti had sold around 800 firearms in Pune and other parts of Maharashtra over the past few years, often using social media for communication, according to Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar.A total of 47 suspects were detained during the operation.
Seven alleged racketeers from Umarti’s Barwani district—Bachhansingh alias Sunnybhai Chawla (37), Jasbirsingh Prakashsingh Chawla (22), Pravinsingh Uttamsingh Takrana (22), Rajpalsingh Pradhansingh Juneja (36), Aloksingh Joharsingh Barnala (27), Nanaksingh Ajitsingh Barnala (32), and Gurucharansingh Barnala (23)—were arrested and brought to Pune. They face charges under the Indian Arms Act, with Section 111 (organized crime) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) added recently. The Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) is also likely to be invoked. The accused were remanded to police custody for five days.Umarti, called the “village of pistols,” borders Maharashtra near Chopda taluka in Jalgaon district.
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