https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Locked Doors & Dead Ends: How Nagpur Cops Crack 20-Year Mystery of Missing Weapon from Closed House

With clues from a grocer, a dusty mailbox, and retired officials, police traced a Russian-made pistol lost in records since 2005 to a forgotten vault in a late IAS officer’s home.
Indian Masterminds Stories

Nagpur: In a remarkable breakthrough, Bajaj Nagar police have recovered a licensed Russian-made pistol belonging to late MP Tanksale, a former Additional Commissioner of Revenue and ex-Municipal Commissioner of Thane, nearly two decades after it went off the radar.

The firearm, last registered in 2005 and with a licence that expired in 2006, was discovered in early May inside an old iron vault at Tanksale’s locked residence in Pawanbhoomi on Wardha Road. The discovery followed a year-long effort by the police’s local intelligence unit – the ‘khupiya’ team – that doggedly pursued one of the administration’s oldest unsolved firearm trace cases.

Despite being listed in official arms licence records, the weapon had long been unaccounted for, frustrating the city police’s arms licence branch. The trail began at plot number 114 in Bajaj Nagar, where the firearm was registered, but turned cold as current tenants were unaware of the former IAS officer. The sleuths then scoured tax records, tracked previous owners, and even relied on online searches and word-of-mouth leads to reconstruct the officer’s past.

Key assistance came from retired revenue officer Ravindra Bhusari, who recalled that Tanksale had once lived in the Pawanbhoomi locality. A visit there led police to a locked house with a mailbox still bearing the officer’s name. The ground floor was vacant, but tenants on the first floor confirmed the house belonged to the late officer and that his US-based daughter collected rent.

After being contacted by the police, the daughter returned to India two months later to assist in the search. Initial efforts at their Wardha Road residence yielded nothing. But a deeper search at the Pawanbhoomi house led to the pistol’s discovery in a small vault inside an old almirah.

“The pistol will remain in our custody until we receive legal clearance for its disposal,” said an officer from Bajaj Nagar police. “This recovery was crucial not just for closing a decades-old record but also for ensuring no unaccounted weapon remained in civilian circulation.”

Tanksale, who passed away in January 2006, was also known for establishing the All India Institute of Local Self Government. His legacy now includes one of the city’s most patient and persistent police investigations into a missing arm.


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
Haryana Jungle Safari
Haryana’s Mega Jungle Safari Project Moves Closer to Reality; Phase-I Design Finalised
SBK Singh IPS CP
Delhi Police Commissioner S B K Singh Bans Aerial Platforms from August 2 to 16 for Security Reasons
IPS-logo-resized_new
10 Senior Cops Get New Roles In Bihar Police; DG Jitendra Kumar Gets Additional Charge of B-SAP
Indian Forest Services IFS officer
Jharkhand IFS Rajneesh Kumar Transferred Amid Ongoing Legal Proceedings - Details Inside
Uttar Pradesh UP Government
17 Review Officers Transferred in Uttar Pradesh Secretariat Administration Reshuffle - Details Inside
IFS-forest-resized
6 IFS Officers Transferred in Odisha to Strengthen Environmental Administration, Jagayandatt Pati Made RCCF, Koraput Circle
IAS Officers Indian Administrative Services IAS logo
4 Young IAS Officers Reshuffled in Uttarakhand, Rahul Anand Made Joint Magistrate, Dehradun
Odisha Government
Odisha Elevates Two Promising IFS Officers to Senior Time Scale, Strengthening Forest Leadership - Know More About Them
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IAS Karn Satyarthi
How IAS Karn Satyarthi Transformed Gumla Through Empathy and Innovation
Ananth Rupanagudi IRAS
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi’s Take on Corruption, Reform, and Duty
WhatsApp Image 2025-07-26 at 13.16
What Most Indians Don't Know About Jim Corbett
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
BPSC Bihar police
From Lantern Light to Police Uniform: How Praveen Kumar from a Small Bihar Village Cracked BPSC to Become SDPO
From a lantern-lit village in Bihar to becoming an SDPO, Praveen Kumar's journey is a testament to resilience,...
IAS Priyansha Garg
Why Mindset Matters: IAS Priyansha Garg’s Mental Health Mantra for UPSC
After two failed prelims, Priyansha Garg cracked UPSC with AIR 31 in her fourth attempt, proving how...
Ashish Akshat
From Setback to State Topper: How Ashish Akshat Topped JPSC While Working Full-Time
Ashish Akshat from Dhanbad topped JPSC 2023, proving that resilience, discipline, and family support...
Social Media
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve: From India’s First Sanctuary to a Tiger Conservation Success Story | International Tiger Day Special
IAS Supriya Sahu Hails Mudumalai's Role in Tiger Conservation on Tiger Day. Declared in 1940, Now Among...
Mangroves
Mangroves: Nature’s Shield Against Disasters, Says Officer Parveen Kaswan on Mangroves Day - Watch His Post Here
Mangroves, with their dense, interlaced root systems, form a mesh-like structure that serves as a buffer...
Retired IPS Inderjit Singh Sidhu
Purpose Doesn’t Retire: How 88-Year-Old Retired DIG Becomes Chandigarh’s ‘Quiet Warrior’ of Cleanliness
Inderjit Singh Sidhu’s Dawn Patrol Earns Applause, Mahindra’s Praise for a Man Who Chose Action Over...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Haryana Jungle Safari
Haryana’s Mega Jungle Safari Project Moves Closer to Reality; Phase-I Design Finalised
SBK Singh IPS CP
Delhi Police Commissioner S B K Singh Bans Aerial Platforms from August 2 to 16 for Security Reasons
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IAS Karn Satyarthi
Ananth Rupanagudi IRAS
WhatsApp Image 2025-07-26 at 13.16
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT