3 held for entering Mumbai mall with firearm; police rule out link to PM Modi event - The Times of India

**Three Arrested After Brandishing a Firearm Inside a Mumbai Mall** *Police say there is no connection to the upcoming Prime Ministerial event.*

Mumbai police detained three men on Saturday after they entered the bustling Galleria Mall in the Bandra‑Kurla Complex (BKC) brandishing a handgun. Security personnel and shoppers reported the group attempting to force their way past the mall’s entry gates when a concealed pistol was discovered on one of the suspects. The individuals, aged between 24 and 32, were taken into custody without incident, and the weapon was seized by authorities.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Rakesh Asthana, briefed the press that a preliminary investigation shows no evidence linking the incident to the high‑profile political rally scheduled for next week, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address a crowd of several hundred thousand at the nearby International Conference Centre. “Our intelligence feeds have not flagged any coordination between these perpetrators and any extremist or political group,” Asthana said. The three suspects are currently being interrogated on charges of illegal possession of a firearm, breach of public peace, and attempted trespass.

The arrests come amid a spate of security breaches in the city as officials tighten measures ahead of the PM’s event. In the past month, police apprehended a man posing as a PMO official and another individual—identified as an army personnel and self‑declared “bodyguard”—both found carrying weapons near the same venue. Those incidents, along with the mall intrusion, have prompted the state government to increase surveillance, deploy additional police units, and conduct random security sweeps across major public spaces in Mumbai.