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.
