Alarm: Illegal arms finding way into Chandigarh

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 13

Illegal weapons are finding their way into the city, which is evident from the fact that 52 persons were arrested in the past two years and 46 country-made pistols six other weapons were seized.

In 2018, 18 country-made pistols, one .32 bore revolver, one rifle, 124 live cartridges and an empty cartridge were recovered with the arrest of 22 persons.

Similarly, last year, 28 country-made pistols, a US-made pistol, a single-barrelled gun, a double-barrelled breech-loading gun, a dunali and 109 live cartridges and 39 empty cartridges were recovered with the arrest of 32 persons.

The recovery of weapons has also been made this year by the UT police, especially from members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, who were arrested following the incident of firing at a hotelier’s house in Sector 33 and at a liquor vend in Sector 9. The arrest of Bishnoi’s gang members had led to recovery of pistols and live cartridges.

Several murder cases reported in the recent past have also seen the use of country-made weapons.

On December 18 last year, two youths, Vineet Kumar and Ajay, alias Ajju, were shot dead at their rented accommodation in Sector 15. Country-made weapons were used to kill the students. The arrest of the murder accused had led to the recovery of country-made pistols.

Similarly, a country-made pistol and a US-made pistol were used in the murder of Sonu Shah, who was gunned down by four assailants inside his office at Burail village, Sector 45, on September 28 last year. The assailants had pumped 10 bullets into Shah’s body.

A county-made weapon was also used in the murder of Vishal Chhillar, a former student of DAV College, Sector 10, who was shot dead at a rented flat in Sector 49 on March 6, 2019.