The Gopalapatnam police on Thursday took two persons into custody for carrying a fake pistol to Simhachalam hilltop area.
The police said that the accused were ex-convicts and native of Machilipatnam of Krishna district.
According to reports S. Phani Kumar and G. Suresh came to Simhachalam hilltop on Thursday evening and they stayed in a dormitory close to the main temple.
On Thursday morning, when they were preparing to leave, the security staff at the dormitory found a pistol in their bag and immediately alerted the Gopalapatnam police.
Initially the police suspected that they were anti-social elements who entered the city ahead of Prime Minister and President’s visit to the city for the IFR.
The cops rushed to the spot and took the two persons into their custody and recovered the fake pistol.
It was on examining the recovered pistol that they realised that it was a fake one. Sources also said that Phani was earlier arrested in a ganja smuggling case and he was released from the central prison a few days ago.
The police are interrogating the duo to extract the reason for purchasing the dummy pistol.