AHMEDABAD: A gunfight broke out in Bilimora city of Gujarat’s Navsari district when the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) swooped in on a gang that had reportedly gathered at a hotel to exchange weapons.
As the police closed in, the accused opened fire, sparking a fierce exchange that ended with one gangster shot in the leg and four arrested.
The Gujarat Police’s SMC seized three country-made pistols and 27 live cartridges from the spot, as investigators now trace the gang’s interstate links.
A tense morning in Bilimora city turned into a crime thriller when Gujarat’s State Monitoring Cell (SMC) intercepted a gang trading illegal weapons inside a local hotel. Acting on specific intelligence, the SMC team raided the premises, but what followed was chaos.
As officers surrounded the suspects, the gang opened fire in panic while attempting to flee. Two rounds were exchanged, one fired by the gang and another by the police in swift retaliation.
One accused, identified as Yashsingh Sundarsingh from Haryana, was hit in the leg during the crossfire and was immediately taken to hospital under police escort.
Despite the sudden attack, the SMC team maintained composure and overpowered the gang within minutes. Three others, Rishabh Ashok Sharma (Madhya Pradesh), Manish Kaluram Kumawat (Rajasthan), and Madan Gopiram Kumawat (Rajasthan), were arrested from the spot. The operation also yielded a major arms seizure: three country-made pistols and 27 live cartridges.
Confirming the encounter, a senior police officer from the SMC stated: “Today morning, a cross-firing incident occurred between the accused persons and the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) team at Bilimora, District Navsari. During the exchange, one accused sustained injuries, and four accused were successfully arrested. A seizure of three country-made pistols and twenty-seven live rounds has been made from their possession. The situation is presently under control, and further details will follow after the FIR registration.”
Following the shootout, Navsari district police and other units joined the SMC on-site. Preliminary investigations reveal that the arrested men are linked to a notorious interstate criminal network, possibly involved in illegal arms trafficking. Authorities have now launched a deeper probe into the gang’s operations across states including Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The Bilimora shootout, brief but explosive, has once again exposed the expanding reach of alleged interstate weapon syndicates operating across Gujarat, even as police tighten their dragnet on gunrunning networks.