Country-made pistols a favourite among criminals

Satinder Pal Singh

Dera Bassi, May 29

Criminals committing crimes in the Dera Bassi constituency seem to have made country-made pistols, popularly known as ‘desi katta’, their favourite, attribute to their easy availability or cheaper price.

If the recent crime trends are anything to go by, for an escalating number of murders, chain/purse snatching and even robberies being executed in the region in the past years, country-made pistols, popularly known as ‘’kattas’’, have always been a favourite among lawbreakers.

According to police sources, illegal weapons outnumber the legal ones by more than five times in the city and more than 90 per cent of crimes in the city and nearby towns are committed using unlicensed guns.

The police said in maximum shooting cases, ‘desi katta’ were recovered, which is also turning to be a matter of security concern for the police as well as residents.

Sources say these easily obtainable weapons are contributing to the rising incidents of shooting in public places.

“It is easier for criminals to dispose of ‘katta’ after committing a crime. It is almost impossible to link ‘katta’ with a crime incident or a criminal unless there is a clear set of fingerprints,” said one of the police officials.

On May 10, the police had booked four people for allegedly carrying a country-made pistol and recovered five live cartridges from their possession.

Similarly, five persons were booked under the Arms Act on January 9, 2017, when the police party signalled an Indica car (bearing registration number DL-3-CU-7793) to 

stop at a naka which was coming from the Ambala side. During checking,

 the police recovered two country-made pistols 

from the accused who failed to provide any satisfactory answer to the police officials.

Going by the previous records, as many as seven cases of Arms Act were registered in 2015 at the Dera Bassi police station. Similarly in 2016, the city police registered five cases under the Arms Act, while in 2017 no such case has been registered till date.

The sources said the country-made pistols, which are reportedly being manufactured at Uttar Pradesh, are further being supplied to other states at cheaper rates. In the recent cases of firing in the city, country-made pistols have been reportedly used by most of the accused persons.

The police sources said during the interrogations of several accused, it has been found that they bought country-made pistols from arms dealers who get these weapons from UP and Bihar and earned hefty amount for supplying these to the criminals.

Purushottam Singh, DSP, Dera Bassi, said even small-time criminals are using this easily available firearm. Some of the crimes committed in the recent past are testimony to this fact. Katta, a country-made pistol, is available for just Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000, making favourite among criminals.

The DSP said: “If we recover ‘desi katta’ from any criminal or an accused, the police team do conduct raids and check its supply from where the weapon is supplied”.