Published on: Aug 02, 2025 07:40 am IST
A lottery shop owner was arrested for illegally possessing a firearm after accidentally injuring a woman in Dharavi when cleaning the gun.
MUMBAI: A lottery shop owner who illegally possesses a country-made pistol was arrested on Thursday in connection with the accidental firing in Dharavi last week that injured a 32-year-old woman. The police said he claimed the bullet went off unintentionally when he was cleaning his pistol.
On July 27, the stray bullet hit Sarvar Banu Shaikh, a resident of 90 Feet Road in Dharavi, while she was talking to her friend outside her house. She did not know what had hit her shoulder, but when she began bleeding profusely, she was taken to the Sion hospital, where an X-ray revealed the presence of a bullet, said a police officer.
The Shahu Nagar police initially registered a case against an unknown person under the Arms Act and for attempted murder of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. CCTV footage led the police to the suspect, Mohammad Ajju Yakub Shaikh, a resident of Cheetah Camp in Trombay. The police traced him and questioned him.
“Shaikh was running a lottery shop, due to which he used to carry a lot of cash. So, he decided to keep an illegal country-made weapon with him for safety. In the past, he was also booked for illegal possession of a weapon,” said the officer.
Yakub Shaikh told the police he was at his sister Mumtaz’s house to resolve a dispute. He had taken his gun with him, and while cleaning the pistol, a bullet which was stuck in the pistol chamber shot off and injured the woman. “We have arrested him and got his police custody to find out where he got the illegally made country-made pistol from,” said the officer.
