Approved arms license to gangster's brother as he had no criminal cases when applied: MoS Kadam

Pune, Oct 8 (PTI) Maharashtra MoS for Home, Yogesh Kadam, on Wednesday clarified that he had approved the issuance of an arms licence to the brother of fugitive gangster Nilesh Ghaywal as there were no pending cases against him at the time of hearing his application.

He was responding to allegations that Ghaywal's brother, Sachin Ghaywal, had applied for an arms licence with the Pune Police. After his application was rejected, he reportedly approached the state Home Department, where the junior Home Minister approved the request.

"Sachin Ghaywal, a teacher and businessman, had moved an appeal to my office. As per the police department's report, as of the date of the hearing, no criminal cases were pending against him.

"The decision to approve the issuance of the arms licence was taken after scrutinising court orders in which Sachin Ghaywal was acquitted in previous cases," Kadam stated in a post on his social media account.

According to the order dated June 26, Kadam, in his capacity as the appellate authority, directed the Pune Police Commissioner to follow due procedure to issue the arms licence to Sachin Ghaywal.

A senior Pune Police officer said that the licence has not yet been issued, as Kadam's order is currently kept on hold.

Sachin Ghaywal had earlier faced cases related to attempted murder and extortion, officials said.

Nilesh Ghaywal, who has multiple cases registered against him, is suspected to have gone abroad even as he faces fresh criminal charges in a road rage case in which a man was shot at by five to six of the former's associates recently in Kothrud.

Police have filed a couple of cases, including obtaining the passport by using fraudulent means. PTI SPK NSK