BJP worker arrested for illegal firearms trade

The Pune police has arrested Vikrant Ramesh Chandwadkar, a weapons dealer and a national-level tour manager of the BJP, for his alleged involvement in an illegal firearms trade. Chandwadkar was arrested at his residence in Nashik on Thursday.

He was implicated when a crime branch team led by inspector Vijaysinh Gaikwad nabbed Sachin Sudam Beldare at Narpatgiri chowk for being in possession of a sophisticated German-made revolver and a fake licence on Tuesday afternoon. According to a senior crime branch officer, further investigations revealed that the revolver and licence originated from Viraj Armoury in Nashik, a shop owned by Chandwadkar. The fake licence was then tracked back to Nashik-based Radhacharan Jamnaprasad Nayak who had procured it from J-K.

Suspecting that both Chandwadkar and Nayak are involved in a fake licence racket and illegal firearms trade, police arrested both on Thursday. They were booked under sections 420, 466, 467, 468, 471 and 34 of the IPC and remanded to police custody till July 25.

Meanwhile, Vikrant Chandwadkar’s father, Ramesh Chandwadkar, suspects that his son’s arrest is part of a political conspiracy. “The BJP had asked Vikrant to help transport MP Harishchandra Chavan to Nashik for the trust vote on June 22. Chavan cannot walk, so Vikrant was supposed to take him in a special plane. Chavan’s absence could prove to be a major loss for the party. So there is possibility of a conspiracy to arrest Vikrant in order to create hurdles in taking Chavan to Delhi,” he said.