The Hindu : New Delhi News : Gun sender in police custody

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Gun sender in police custody

By Our Staff Reporter

Mahesh Sao in Delhi police custody after being brought to the Capital from Patna on Monday. Photo: R.V. Moorthy

NEW DELHI, JUNE 28. The man who had allegedly sent a crude gun and a cartridge in a parcel to the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on June 24 has told the Delhi police that he did so in the hope that his "innovative gun" would be appreciated by the scientist President. With the accused in their custody now, the police are planning to get him examined to ascertain his mental state.

According to the police, Mahesh Sao, a resident of Mojahitpur village in Patna, was brought to Delhi today on a transit remand of five days following his arrest by the Bihar police from Barh near Patna the day the parcel was detected. A joint interrogation team of the Special Cell of the Delhi police, Intelligence Bureau and local police questioned Mahesh about the motive behind sending the gun and cartridge to the President. .

Mahesh, a Class VIII dropout, used to run a small provisions shop from his house in the village and support his family with Rs. 3,000 a month earning. He told the police that a couple of years ago he saw an advertisement in a newspaper about a toy pistol which could be used to scare away animals from the fields. He bought the gun but did not find it satisfactory. A few days later, he saw the advertisement again and thought that the company, whose name he did not know, was cheating customers by selling an inferior product.

Apparently wanting to show that he could do better, Mahesh began preparing his own "model" of a gun which could be used to scare away animals and also used for self-defence. He collected a few pipes and iron sheets and managed to assemble a pistol-like structure. He left the space in the casing empty for batteries and made a cartridge-like structure which could be filled with gunpowder. The idea being to create enough sound and light so as to scare away animals from the fields.

Once he "completed" it, Mahesh began nurturing a vision that his "invention" should be appreciated all over the country. It also occurred to him that since the President was himself a scientist he would surely appreciate his product. And so he despatched the parcel.

Meanwhile, the police have booked him under the Arms Act and plan to get him examined for his mental health. Further investigations in the case are on.

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