Harni police station in Vadodara city on Wednesday arrested three persons, including two residents of Mumbai, for allegedly trying to illegally sell arms to a resident of Bhavnagar district. Police are yet to nab three others who were accompanying the prospective buyer. Police said two of the six — Dipen Makwana and Pramod Maru who hail from Mumbai, arrived in Vadodara Wednesday to sell a countrymade pistol as well as live cartridges to Chiman Gohil, a resident of Sihor village. Police said that Gohil was accompanied by Rafique Mistry, Basheer Dadhi and Bab Koli while he was trying to bargain a deal with Makwana and Maru near Golden Chowkdi when police cornered them. Inspector SR Vekariya of Harni police station said, “We received a tip-off that some men were arriving with weapons for sale in Vadodara. As part of the additional vigilance in view of the upcoming Assembly polls, we laid a watch and caught three of the six persons from Golden Chowkdi. The accused were to strike a deal for about Rs 1 lakh for the country-made pistol and live cartridges.” Vekariya said that Makwana is the prime accused in the case and is yet to reveal from where he purchased the pistol while Gohil, a resident of Bhavnagar district, is yet tor reveal his need to procure an illegal weapon. Mistry, Dadhi and Koli fled on spotting the police, Vekaria said.
