Grease trail leads to poultry feed firm

A check conducted by Express showed the grease was imported by SABL, described as ‘‘manufacturers and exporters of animal and poultry food’’. To unravel the mystery behind the import of industrial grease by a company dealing in poultry feed, IE tracked down the SABL office. Situated diagonally opposite the sprawling but defunct India United Mills, amidst a row of nondescript shops selling jewellery, textiles and grounded masala at Ferbunder, Cotton Green, SABL is housed in a single room owned by Yashwant Yewale. Yewale was not in and could not be contacted on his cellphone.

The office-cum-residence at Abhinandan Nivas was locked. ‘‘He only comes at night and has now gone with his family to his native village,’’ said neighbour Manohar Pai, who added that he knew little about the man or his business. ‘‘He is a reserved man and is not socially interactive,’’ he said.

A search on the internet revealed more. Under http://www.indianyellowpages.com, Yewale’s firm is said to have been established in 1995 and is described as a maker of ‘‘Maxmilk, animal feed for cows, buffaloes, goats and camels that helps improve fat in milk feed’’.

On another website, http://www.mumbaijunction.com, the firm’s name is not mentioned but Yewale has advertised a different service. Here, he has ‘‘Everything Under One Roof’’ — manpower, watchmen, transporters, commission agents and packers and movers.

Asked why a poultry feed manufacturer needed to import industrial grease, Mumbai Commissioner of Police A N Roy said, ‘‘Investigations have begun and this will be found out.’’ He also confirmed that Yewale had not been arrested till now. Roy said it was ‘‘too early’’ to say if authorities in Bangkok would be questioned since the arms were loaded there.

At least 34 Webley, Colt and Smith and Wesson revolvers, three pistols, a silencer and 1,283 rounds of ammunition were seized after a container was detained by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. The container was booked by Samudra Shipping Lines.