Need arms licence? Akali CPSs can help

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 5

A section of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs) of the ruling SAD is issuing recommendation letters to help applicants from their areas get an arms licence. Earlier, legislators used to make calls for the purpose to the officers concerned.

The Tribune has procured copies of the letters issued by Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Avinash Chander and Pawan Kumar Tinu (all Akali CPSs), besides former minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur and ex-MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar. The letters, which are on the official letter head with signatures and are attached to the applications, are addressed to the functionaries of the Jalandhar district administration who deal with the files of the district rural police.

While Tinu and Wadala have directly sought licences for applicants, Avinash Chander, Phillaur and Makkar prefer an indirect route. The latter’s letters attached with the files for arms licences read that they are sending aggrieved people of their respective constituencies, who be heard properly and their problem be resolved.

Interestingly, the attached police verification documents read that the applicants for whom they are recommending licences have neither got any threat nor has any major incident of robbery or other crime happened in the vicinity of their residence but still they “feel insecure.”

This exercise is also in contravention of the April 2010 order of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to the home secretaries of all states: “Proliferation of arms and ammunition, whether licensed or not, in the country disrupts the social order and development, vitiates the law and order situation, directly contributes towards the lethality of violent acts, and needs to be curbed.”

In the past six months, 208 arms licences have been issued in Jalandhar Rural police district.

Asked why the police were not asked to step up security instead of recommending arms licences, Wadala said, “Though there is no threat perception, there have been snatching incidents after which people, especially those residing in farmhouses, are wary. The administration has of late become very strict on the matter. Some people even think that weapons are their legacy. So, if the father has moved abroad or passed away, the son wants to retain the weapon.”

Phillaur claims that with the administration restricting the issuance of arms licences a month to just 25 or 30, the applicants have been facing problems. “So, they approach us. But we only recommend their cases. It is up to the police and the administration to see whether the applicant deserves a licence or not,” he said.

When contacted, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Girish Dayalan said, “We are exercising restraint in issuing arms licences. We strictly go by the police report.”