Arkansas, April 23, 2009
Sudhir Chopra
NRI Dr. Randeep Mann, 50, of Pope County, Arkansas, was charged
for illegally owning high-explosive grenades, fully automatic
machine guns and may also be involved in Car Bombing
On Feb. 4, Dr. Trent Pierce, 54 was injured in a bombing that
occurred as he was getting into his vehicle to leave for work.
He was chairman of the state Medical Board which regulates more
than 8,000 doctors. He lost his left eye and doctors removed metal
pieces from his abdomen.
In March, ATF special agent David Oliver said in testimony that
the police found from Mann 's home:
- 110 fully automatic machine guns worth more than $1 million,
grenades and grenade launchers
- Four of the weapons were not registered
- The grenades are only used by military personnel not available
in public
- The machine guns ranged from M-16s to a tripod-mounted .50-caliber
sniper weapon
Michael Gordon, Assistant U.S. Attorney said, "I think the
quantity of the ammunition is representative of whether or not
he's a danger to the community." The Police also confiscated
Randeep Mann's concealed-handgun permit.
He was arrested when the London city workers found plastic-wrapped
canister containing grenades in a wooded area, near his home.
Dr. Randeep Mann, is an internal medicine specialist. He was
graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune. His prescription
privileges was revoked by The state Medical Board because of complaints
about patient deaths and allegations over pain-pill prescriptions.
He sued the state Medical board, claiming that the panel is biased
against him because he is from India.
Mann has pleaded not guilty and remains held without bond pending
trial. He said that the issue was not the prescriptions but the
patients' abuse of the drugs. His lawyers said the ATF’s
interest in his client would’t affect his defense against
the weapons charge.
Dr. Randeep's father, Kuldip Mann is a gun dealer, might be in
India for treatment for prostate cancer. He served in the Indian
military.
In the past two years, Kuldip Mann had crossed the U.S. border-
325 times and Randeep Mann 121 times.
Dr. Randeep's wife Sangeeta Mann, testified that her husband
rarely left the country and her father-in-law spends most of his
time in a wheelchair.