Panchayat Body Election – Police Officials To Gather 3.4 Lakh Licensed Arms

Patiala: With the zila parishad and block samiti polls planned for May 19, the Punjab Police officials have an uphill task of gathering 3.40 lakh firearms from all over the state before elections.

The authorities in some regions have already notified the citizens to deposit their weapons with the concerned police stations.

Sources added that there are possibilities that political jealousy might turn blood-spattered as these polls are violently competed. Even during the Vidhan Sabha polls, related orders were forwarded by the Election Commission.

With the malkhanas (stores within the police stations) already filled to capacity, the police officials will have to hinge upon private arms stores for storing the weapons.

To ensure compliance, the policemen are being asked to visit the households of those holding arms licences and urge them to deposit their weapons at the earliest.

In Ludhiana region, there are 28,102 licensed firearms whilst in the cities of Bathinda and Gurdaspur there are around 35,152 and 35,794 licence holders, respectively. Sangrur has more than 15,000 firearms and Patiala has more than 25,000 firearms.

But, villagers are seemed unwilling to surrender their weapons. “We are lame ducks without arms. There are many cases pending against the opponent factions,” claimed Karamjit Singh, a villager from Samana.

On an average, 1,500 firearms are likely to be deposited at a police station.

Punjab Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Dinkar Gupta stated that he would hunt for a report on the stuff from all regions by April 29. “The plan of the exercise is to carry out the elections in a peaceful manner,” he said.

Daunting task

The police have been told to gather weapons from all license possessors

The police have been asked to check the households of all license holders crosswise the state

On an average, 1,500 firearms are likely to be deposited at each and every police station.