Gaping holes in gun safety net, illegal weapons market thrives

NEW DELHI: French security agencies were baffled to see the Paris attackers smuggling in AK-47 and M70 assault rifles right under their noses. TOI tried to find out how dense the gun control net in Delhi is since there are fears of a similar strike in the capital in future. The picture is quite grim.

The illegal weapons market is thriving in the capital. Apart from the traditional hubs of Meerut and Munger, there's a third source now in Khargone (MP). Yet police seem indifferent to the growing challenge.

Reported illegal gun case are going down. In 2014, 753 cases were reported till November 15. This year, the figure stands at 627. Weapons seizures have dropped three-fold. From 868, in 2014, seizures went down to 392 in 2015. Munitions to the tune of 20,794 were seized in 2014; this year, the figure is 4,988.

With little deterrence, gun-runners have now launched a weapon-on-demand facility via phone, SMS and even WhatsApp message. Customers prefer WhatsApp more as they get to see the pictures of available weapons. "If he wants a specific tailor-made weapon, he can even post us a picture and we will give him a replica," said a gunrunner from Khargone.

Delhi Police's special cell has also exposed a nexus between authorised arms-sellers and criminals. Lacunae in the audit system are exploited to sell legitimate weapons to criminals.

"We found an Etah-based arms dealer collecting weapons under his authorized quota from different arms dealers located in Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Moradabad, Etah etc. Every piece of weapon requires a transport licence (TL). The seller collected the required TLs from the big arms dealers and carried them to Etah. But instead of updating his stock records and submitting information to the district authorities, he pilfered the same through a chain of peddlers for high profits. He had been exploiting systemic flaws in the auditing of gun shops, and local administrative staff supposed to keep tabs on the stocks of licensed arms dealers had connived with him," a senior special cell officer said.
Gangs of outer, southwest and west Delhi receive the maximum arms and they use them to run the land-grabbing rackets. As real estate booms, local and Haryana gangsters and also politicians indulge in gang wars and use illegal weapons to settle numerous land disputes.

Two years ago, special cell had registered an FIR under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to probe and crack down on smuggling of guns from Munger. But now, even terrorists are using Munger-made weapons like pistols and carbines, as disclosed by Indian Mujahideen's Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar.

Police, however, have not reacted similarly to Khargone weapons, which are more affordable and therefore more popular among criminals. The buyers get heavy discounts on bulk purchases and receive the weapons anywhere in the country with a spare magazine. A study by special cell has found that Khargone-made weapons are being used extensively in robberies, murders and even snatchings in the city.

The carriers, the study reveals, are primarily using trains to commute and mid-range hotels to stay. Unemployed men and women are opting to be carriers now.