Gun houses under scanner as Tarn Taran police find 20 more fake licences

PK Jaiswar/Gurbaxpuri

Amritsar, July 10

A day after the fake arms licence racket was busted, the Tarn Taran police have found 20 more licences which are not on the official record of the district administration here.

The total figure of fake licences found till now stands at 44. The Tarn Taran police busted the racket with the arrest of three persons on Tuesday. The police recovered 24 fake arms licences from their possession.

Many gun houses have also come under the police scanner. The prime suspect, district manager of the Sewa Kendra, is still out of the reach of the police. Officials are scrutinising records of the district administration and comparing it with the Sewa Kendra record to ascertain the number of arms licences issued so far.

“We have found 20 more fake arms licences. Their number could swell further as the scrutiny is still in progress,” said Prabhjit Singh, CIA in-charge. “We will also involve those persons in investigation who got their licences through the racket,” he said.

As per information, Suraj Bhandari was promoted as district manager of Sewa Kendra around four months ago. Earlier, he was working as assistant district manager. The police are analysing the record since he joined as the assistant district manager.

Among those arrested in the racket include Pawandeep Singh, alias Mantri, a resident of Mallia; Shamsher Singh, a resident of Jhander, and Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Jodhpur. The absconding gang members are Raghav Kapur of Jaspal Nagar, Sultanwind, Amritsar, and Suraj Bhandari of Kiri Shahi, Verowal.

According to sources in the Police Department, the gang used to charge Rs 1.5 lakh for preparing fake arms licence for Punjab and Rs 2 lakh for the national-level arms licence. They also helped in renewing licences without clearance of any dope test by charging Rs 20,000.

Today, the Amritsar police also claimed to have busted fake arms licence racket and arrested eight persons including Harpal Singh, an employee of the Tarn Taran Sewa Kendra, in this connection. Suraj Bhandari was the prime suspect in both the cases.

Dr Darpan Ahluwalia, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, who is handling the probe of the racket busted by the Amritsar city police, said several gun house owners were under scanner as they sold weapons without verifying the credentials of the arms licences online.

“The police have recovered seven weapons, including six .32 bore pistols and revolvers and a double barrel rifle, from suspects involved in the racket. These weapons have been issued by gun houses. Their owners would be questioned during investigation,” she said.