Three persons have been arrested in connection with the recovery of two pistols in Maharashtra’s Akola district, and one of the accused was allegedly in touch with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, police said on Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police had recovered two pistols and nine rounds from a well in Akot on January 16, a police release said.

A case was registered under the Arms Act, and the police zeroed in on the accused, Praful Vinayak Chavan (25) and Ajay Tularam Dethe (27), and apprehended them on January 17, it said.

During a probe, it was found that Shubham Rameshvar Lonkar (25), a resident of Pune, had directed an unidentified supplier to deliver the weapons to Chavan, the release said.

Lonkar, who was the mastermind, was arrested on January 30, it said.

Investigations revealed that Lonkar had allegedly done WhatsApp video calls with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi twice in 2022 and 2023, and he had also received WhatsApp audio calls from three international numbers, including from the gangster’s brother Anmol Bishnoi, the release stated.

"The investigation is focused on tracing middlemen, ascertaining the motive behind the parcel drop in Akola. The police are also further verifying alleged audio and video WhatsApp calls with Lawrence Bishnoi and others,” Superintendent of Police Bachchan Singh said.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.