In a significant development in the case of five live cartridges found in a student’s bag at the prestigious IIT Bombay campus, Powai Police have arrested the alleged supplier from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. The accused has been identified as Prashant Raj (24), a real estate agent originally from Samastipur in Bihar.
According to Powai Police, Prashant Raj had allegedly supplied the five live cartridges to the primary accused, Sarvottam Chaudhary, for ₹3,500.
Police said that Sarvottam Chaudhary (23), a resident of Bihar, was arrested earlier on February 19, 2026. Chaudhary is a college dropout and had visited the IIT Bombay campus on February 12 as a guest to meet a friend. During his visit, he allegedly placed the five live cartridges inside his friend’s bag.
The matter came to light on February 19, when two students got into a drunken brawl inside Hostel No. 1. Following the incident, the IIT security team conducted a search of the hostel rooms. During the search, five live cartridges were recovered from the bag of a BTech student, triggering panic on the campus.
During the investigation, Chaudhary returned to the campus the same day, where security personnel detained him and handed him over to the Powai Police. During interrogation, he revealed that he had purchased the cartridges from Prashant Raj for ₹3,500. He also told police that he had been trying to purchase a firearm, but the deal could not be finalised.
Based on Chaudhary’s disclosure and technical investigation, police tracked down and arrested Prashant Raj from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
Police are now investigating how the accused obtained the cartridges and whether an illegal arms supply network is involved. Both accused are currently being questioned as Powai Police continue a detailed probe into the matter.