Kattas to Colts: Blame the spiralling crime graph on unlicensed arms

NEW DELHI: An illegal arms bazaar is thriving in the Capital. From the simple desi kattas to the sophisticated smuggled guns from China, Malaysia, Italy and Pakistan – everything is available for a price, even on rent. According to the police, illegal weapons outnumber the legal ones by more than eight times in the city and more than 90% of crimes in Delhi are committed using unlicensed guns.

Sources say these easily obtainable weapons are contributing to the rising incidents of shooting in public places. Last week, Priya complex shoppers were stunned when a drunk man shot his girlfriend in public following a tiff. The man, said to be from Gurgaon, is absconding. Last Friday a shootout at a crowded Ashok Vihar market claimed the life of a 48-year-old shopkeeper selling car accessories. The accused Rohit Srivastava (21) and a teenager arrested on July 1 were found to be in possession of a countrymade pistol, which was used in the murder.

That’s not all. Last Thursday, when police arrested Aqueel, a 21-year-old for gunning down the driver of his brother-in-law in northeast Delhi, the weapon used was illegal. Aqueel revealed it was easy for him to procure the weapon for a paltry sum. Again, last year when Prem Singh (30) shot and injured a woman at Mukherjee Nagar, investigators found he had three weapons but not one of them was licensed.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. A huge number of fatalities due to firearms go unreported. “The rising incidents of firearm fatalities indicates a sharp influx of illegal guns in the city,” says a gun dealer. Hundreds of illegal arms ‘factories’ sprouting in remote corners of Delhi and neighbouring towns in UP have added to the problem. In western UP, the business has taken the shape of an organized industry. Such ‘factories’ have all the paraphernalia – butts, side covers, barrels, triggers, grinding machines, hand-actuated drilling machines and welding machines – needed to manufacture the firearms.

“The weapons are easily available on rent. You can even deposit an amount and procure the weapon temporarily. You just pay for the bullets and even get the deposit back if the weapon is returned intact,” said a senior police officer.

According to a special cell officer, even though illicit sophisticated arms from abroad have made easy inroads into the Capital due to cross-border terrorist movement, desi katta continues to be the most popular gun. Katta is the easiest to dispose of after a crime. “It is almost impossible to link katta with a crime or a criminal unless there is a clear set of fingerprints,” the officer said.

Most criminals eventually want to procure a factory-made pistol, which they refer to as an “English” weapon. However, these are very expensive, so they settle for a more refined version of katta. These guns are called “sixers”, as they can hold six bullets at a time unlike the more basic version that has a single bullet chamber.

Unlike the basic katta, “sixer” looks factory-made. “At times it is difficult for an untrained eye to tell the difference between a sixer and a factory-made gun,” the officer said. Since it takes a skilled craftsman to make a sixer, these sell for Rs 5,000 or more, depending on the finish and looks.

Affluent criminals prefer imported guns and they invariably manage to obtain them. Their choice: Chinese revolvers that cost anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh. Of late, the trend has shifted to Italian pistols that cost a few lakh of rupees in the illegal market.

After Y S Dadwal took over as Delhi Police commissioner last year, the number of cases registered under the Arms Act came down to 6,248 in 2007 from 8,801 in 2006. In the first six months this year, the figure is around 2,500. One of the reasons for this declining figure is a directive from Delhi High Court which said that cases under Arms Act should be dealt with caution.

That apart, as ACP Rajan Bhagat points out, “the focus last year and this year has been to bust major organised rackets. There is definitely a sharp decline in cases of Arms Act but the catches have been big. The figure for the first six months of this year is lower when compared with last year.” In 2006, as far as cases under Arms Act are concerned, there was an increase of more than 10% from 2005 (7,975 cases). In 2004, there were 7,545 cases under the Act while 5,820 cases were reported in 2003 and 4,591 in 2002. The figures in 2007 when compared to previous years show that though the seizures have gone down, the use of firearms, as reflected through rising number of incidents, have increased at an alarming rate.

“Sometimes firearms are bought legally, then sold or rented out to a second owner making their possession illegal. These firearms remain in circulation and at times sell for as low as Rs 500 to Rs 1,500. Any decline in crime is possible only with the elimination of these weapons,” the officer added.

With a huge number of illegal arms floating around, the cops are worried. Especially in the wake of the forthcoming Delhi state assembly polls and the general elections later. The issue continues to be discussed at every inter-state police coordination meet but little has been done on the ground and weapons continue to flow through porous borders of Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Published by Times of India

rahul.tripathi@timesgroup.com