In a day, Haryana issues 4 weapon licences, seizes 6 unlicensed arms

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, July 17

More than four arms licences are issued per day in Haryana, while over six unlicensed weapons are seized per day.

Haryana has issued 8,141 arms licences in the past five years, from 2017 to 2021, which comes to more than four licences being issued per day, according to data of the Home Department.

The maximum licences have been issued in Gurugram (934), 11.5 per cent of the total. It is followed by Panipat, where 889 licences have been issued, accounting for 10.9 per cent of the total. Karnal, the home district of the Chief Minister, saw 696 arms licences being issued in the past five years, 8.5 per cent of the total.

The minimum number of licences have been issued in Charkhi Dadri (47), while Ambala saw 73 licences being issued in the past five years.

The state issued 2,617 licences each in 2017 and 2018, but it came down to 1,211 in 2019. The number further dipped to 767 in 2020 and 929 in 2021.

No licence has been issued in Rewari for the past two years. Jind and Hisar also did not issue any licence in 2020.

“There is a bias in the issuance of licences. If Opposition MLAs recommend a licence, it is not allowed. Common people are not given forms to apply for the licence. However, if there is a recommendation from ruling party people, arms licences are granted. The law and order situation in the state is poor. Crime usually takes place with unlicensed arms, while people want arms for their defence,” said Congress MLA and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Varun Chaudhary. The Home Department supplied him with the data on arms licences in reply to his query.

As per the procedure, on receipt of an application for an arms licence, the licensing authority calls for a report from the officer in charge of the nearest police station. If the officer does not send the report within the prescribed time, the licensing authority can take a decision.

Interestingly, over six unlicensed arms have been seized per day in the state from 2018 to 2020, as 6,788 unlicensed weapons were recovered, including rifles, pistols, revolvers, carbines and pipe guns (katta).

As per the data of the State Crime Record Bureau, in 2020, 2,427 unlicensed arms were seized in the state, comprising 1,349 pistols and 891 pipe guns. The figure for 2019 was 2,185 weapons, comprising 1,060 pistols and 993 pipe guns. In 2018, 2,176 unlicensed arms were seized, comprising 1,091 pistols and 783 pipe guns.