Fugitive Fort Smith gunsmith Neil Ravi Mehta arrested in Austin, Texas

Robert Medley, Fort Smith Times Record
·1 min read
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A Fort Smith man wanted on a federal charge of possessing an unregistered explosive device at his home has been arrested in Austin, Texas, the FBI reported Tuesday.

Neil Ravi Mehta was arrested Monday night without incident by FBI agents in Austin, an FBI spokesman reported.

"The FBI Little Rock is grateful for the exceptional work performed by the FBI Austin RA (Resident Agency) as well as our partners at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, IRS Criminal Investigations, the Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General, and the Fort Smith Police Department," the FBI reported Tuesday.

Neil Ravi Mehta who last lived in Fort Smith, is sought by the FBI and ATF on possession of explosives found in his home near Carol Cross Park at S 74 and Free Ferry Road Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023.
Neil Ravi Mehta who last lived in Fort Smith, is sought by the FBI and ATF on possession of explosives found in his home near Carol Cross Park at S 74 and Free Ferry Road Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023.

Mehta is listed as an employer in a company that makes weapons, and was ordered to pay overtime to employees in 2022 by the U.S. Department of Labor, court records from the U.S. District Court For The Western District of Arkansas in Fort Smith show.

On Tuesday, Jan. 31, law enforcement officers were seen at Mehta's home, 6999 Free Ferry Road, near Carol Ann Cross Park near South 74th Street and Free Ferry. He was not found at his home.

Court documents show an ATF explosives enforcement officer determined a weapon found at the home was an improvised explosive bomb.

More:FBI, ATF search for Fort Smith gunsmith wanted for illegal explosives charge continues

In a civil lawsuit settlement judgment filed by the U.S. Labor Department on Nov. 10, 2022, in the U.S. District Court For the Western District of Arkansas, Mehta is named as a defendant with Federal Armament LLC. Martin F. Walsh, Secretary of Labor is the plaintiff in the case.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: A Fort Smith gunsmith Neil Ravi Mehta arrested in Austin, Texas by FBI