Mumbai: Tension prevailed at the IIT-Bombay campus in Powai, Mumbai, after the recovery of five live cartridges from a hostel room. The ammunition was allegedly procured in Bihar and taken into the campus by an outsider, who is now under arrest.
It was a chance recovery, officials said. Steps will now be taken to monitor the activities of guests and visitors to the hostels, they said.
The Quick Response Team informed the police security officer on night duty about a dispute between two students on the ground floor of Hostel 1 around 1.30 am on February 19.
Security personnel reached the spot and found that a verbal altercation had broken out between Suraj Dubey, a first-year BTech student residing in Room No 93, and Aman, a resident of Room No 89, over a financial transaction. The security team intervened and managed to bring the situation under control, as reported by IANS.
While interacting with the students though, the security staff detected the smell of alcohol on Dubey and his friend Apoorv Mishra. As alcohol is strictly prohibited within the campus, authorities decided to conduct a search of their rooms as per institutional rules.
During the search of Dubey’s room, a black bag kept inside was checked. The five live cartridges marked “KF 7.65” were recovered from the bag. The estimated value of the seized cartridges in the black market is around Rs 3,500, authorities said.
Dubey, on being questioned, said that the bag did not belong to him, but his friend Apoorv. When Apoorv was questioned, he said that the cartridges belonged to his friend, Sarvottam Anand Satishchandra Chaudhary (23), a resident of Samastipur, Bihar.
Sarvottam had allegedly visited IIT-Bombay on February 12 and kept the live cartridges inside the bag, Apoorv said. This information was passed on to senior officials.
When Sarvottam returned to the campus on February 19, he was detained for questioning. During interrogation, he is said to have confessed that he purchased the 7.65 mm cartridges from Munger in Bihar. Security sub-inspector Amod Karanje handed over the five live cartridges to the police station, after which a case was registered against the youth under relevant sections pertaining to illegal possession and transportation of ammunition.
The police are now investigating the motive behind bringing the cartridges into the campus. It is being checked whether Sarvottam is a part of a gang or linked to a wider illegal arms supply network.
The recovery of live ammunition from the campus of one of the country’s top institutes has shaken up the administration. Security measures at IIT-Bombay have been further tightened, and a thorough probe into the matter is underway.
