Less than 30% of licensed guns were deposited with ten days remaining

Less than thirty percent of the 19,447 permitted firearms have been placed with the Police Commissionerate here, seemingly out of affection for their treasured belongings.

Upon the announcement of the 18th Lok Sabha general elections on March 16, which imposed the model code of conduct, holders of weapons licenses were requested to promptly surrender their guns to the local police.

Up to 16,293 weapons licenses have been registered with the Police Commissionerate here, according to Commissioner of Police (CP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal, who informed The Tribune on Thursday. The license holders of these licenses were in possession of 19,447 permitted weapons of various kinds.

“Of the total 19,447 firearms possessed by the registered 16,293 arms license holders in the commissionerate limits, 5,702 licensed weapons have been deposited with the local police thus far, which constitutes 29.32 percent,” revealed Chahal, adding that the police had been contacting license holders to deposit their licensed weapons as soon as possible at the closest police station or post.

Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer (DEO) Sakshi Sawhney has set a deadline of March 31 for the deposit of all permitted weapons and associated ammunition with the local police, indicating that he is taking the problem seriously.

Sakshi issued a severe warning, stating that any holders of a weapons license who did not follow the instruction within the allotted time period will face legal action from the district administration.

“I have directed all individuals holding licenses to deposit their firearms and ammunition to the nearest police station/post by March 31 in accordance with the decision of screening committees and in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 144 of the CrPC, 1973,” she disclosed. She went on to say that individuals who were registered with the National Rifle Association as sportsmen, people who have a high threat perception as recommended by the CP/SSP concerned, people who have been issued licenses in their official capacity, such as members of the armed forces, police, armed security guards of banks and other institutions dealing with cash or precious items (on the recommendation and certification of the bank or organization where such person was employed or engaged), and members of communities who have a long-standing custom of disarming

Sakshi made it clear that anybody wishing to request an exception for compelling reasons has to appeal to the screening committee in order to have the decision supporting their request reviewed.

She promised that “any such representation will be decided by the screening committee immediately, preferably within 24 hours,” but she also said that breaking the prohibitory order will result in legal action being taken in accordance with the applicable sections of the Indian Penal Code and other applicable legislation.

The DC-cum-DEO reaffirmed the district administration’s commitment to ensuring free, fair, and peaceful elections in the district, which was divided into the Lok Sabha constituencies of Ludhiana (9) and Fatehgarh Sahib (5). The district administration identified 442 vulnerable and critical polling stations at 176 locations within the boundaries of the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate, where approximately 26% of the city was designated as expenditure-sensitive. In a similar vein, the Khanna police district has identified 28 polling places that are vulnerable and 7 that are crucial, with 21% of the territory within the boundaries of Khanna, Payal, and Samrala being deemed to be expenditure-sensitive.

Up to 50 vulnerable voting places and one crucial polling place have been identified in the Ludhiana Rural Police District so far.