Hyderabad: Though the police claimed that a thorough checking is conducted before the issue and renewal of firearms licence, the flow of illegal weapons to the city is posing a severe threat. The fire arms licence issue came to the fore with the firing incident on Friday night at Mailardevpally in which a realtor was shot.
Senior police officers said that regular checks are conducted on suspects and arms suppliers who have a large client base in the city. In most of the firing cases in the city, country-made firearms were used. The police said that the country-made firearms are procured from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for Rs 50,000. The manufacturers could be former employees of ordnance factories who have set up their own foundries to churn out illegal weapons. Though they have formed a network, individuals can also purchase from them directly.
“They make weapons in their workshops. While the weapons are made in different designs, the bores are made with the available size as the ammunition used is the original produce of the ordnance units which they obtain through illegal means and theft,” an official, on condition of anonymity, said. “There is no mechanism to control illegal weapons in the city. Regular monitoring should be strengthened and efforts must be made to trace the origin to cut short the supply.” another official added.Illegal firearms in the city have come down as repeated offenders are detained under the Prevention Detention (PD) Act, the police added.
