Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Uttarakhand cancels Namdhari licences

In the wake of Sukhdev Singh Namdhari’s alleged role in the shootout that killed Ponty Chadha, the Uttarakhand government has started probing weapon licences from other states held by residents of the state. Three licences issued to Namdhari in Punjab and registered here were cancelled by the Udham Singh Nagar district administration Wednesday.

The district will be asking those holding licences from other states to deposit their weapons for verification. “Namdhari had licences for three weapons — a rifle, a DBBL gun and a pistol,” District Magistrate B K Sant said. The licences were issued from Sardar Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali).

A source in the Bazpur Kotwali said he had deposited the rifle a few years ago while the DBBL gun had been seized from his residence recently. The Delhi Police recently recovered the pistol.

Sources said the Uttarakhand principal secretary (Home) issued an order in November last week asking district magistrates to probe all the arms licences issued by other states, particularly to those with criminal antecedents. Licences with all-India validity as well as those issued from the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh are also facing probe but they are not likely to be cancelled.

As per a Central government notification in 2010, the area validity of a maximum of three adjoining states is allowed in the case of non-prohibited bore weapons. “There are more than 1,200 holders of arms licences in my area. Sixty-nine got arms licences from other states,” Station House Officer of Bazpur D R Arya replied to a question.

The Udham Singh Nagar district, of which Bazpur is a part, has about 380 people who hold arms licences issued by other states and registered in Uttarakhand.

the Indian Expresss

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