In Chamba, 68.4 pc gun holders deposit weapons

Our Correspondent

Chamba, April 3

Even gun holders in the other parts seemingly remain hesitant, over 68% arms licence holders in Chamba had deposited their weapons at the police station or arms shops in accordance with the directives issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the local administration.

As per the data, 6,497 registered weapons in Chamba district of which 4,438 (68.4%) had been deposited as of April 1. As many as 2,046 weapons are yet to be deposited.

Police planning going door-to-door

• The Chamba district police have urged the remaining firearm licence holders to deposit their weapons at earliest or face action
• The police are planning to collect the weapons by going door-to-door if the gun holders don’t comply with the orders

Chamba’s compliance rate is third highest after Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur where 86% and 71.9% licence holders have deposited their weapons respectively and much higher than the 41.2% compliance rate in the state.

Statewide, out of 1,00,403 registered weapons, only 38,098 arms have been deposited so far while 58,838 were yet to be deposited.

The ECI has made it compulsory for licence holders to deposit their weapons in order to maintain law and order throughout the electoral process.

Soon after the Lok Sabha Elections were announced, the Chamba Deputy Commissioner had issued orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) imposing a ban on carrying firearms till the election process is over. Under the order, licence holders in the district were directed to deposit their weapons at the nearest police stations or at firearms shops. The orders will remain effective till June 6.

Meanwhile, statistics reveal that Kangra, the population-wise biggest district, has a total of 18,412 registered weapons. However, the compliance with the ECI directives is very poor as only 4,615 (25.1%) weapons have been deposited in the district while 13,797 licence holders are yet to comply with the orders.

In Shimla of 16,392 registered weapons, 7,864 weapons or 48% weapons have been deposited.

In Mandi, there were initially 12,490 registered weapons. However, authorities have canceled the licences of 3,237 firearms. Among the remaining 9,253 registered weapons, 52.1% have been deposited, totaling 3,270. This leaves 5,983 weapons yet to be deposited, according to the latest data.

The highest compliance rate, at 86%, is observed in Lahaul-Spiti, with 202 out of 241 licence holders depositing their firearms. Conversely, Hamirpur district exhibits the lowest compliance rate at 19.1%, with only 1,107 out of 5,741 licence holders depositing their weapons.

Those exempt

The directives, however, are not applicable to the security forces, central paramilitary forces, police, home guard personnel, registered players of the National Rifle Association and security personnel working in the private and public sectors.

#Chamba #Lahaul and Spiti