Harpreet bajwa By

Guns are easier to buy than roses in Ferozepur District of Punjab, cradled along the India-Pakistan border. The region has the dubious distinction of being a hub of illegal weapons and fake arms licenses. Weapons made in illegal arms factories in Bihar’s infamous Munger district have found their way to Ferozepur. Revolvers are being sold as British Webley & Scott with fake markings. Not just this, the weapons are “registered legally” in Ferozepur on arms licences. Fake arms licenses have also been issued to some residents of Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh. In return, Punjab dealers supply ammunition to their contacts in Bihar, who sell it to Naxals.

Ferozepur Police has recovered 53 illegal weapons, including 17 rifles of .315 caliber, a .30 caliber rifle, 12 .12 bore shotguns, 15 .32 caliber revolvers, two .22 caliber revolvers, six .32 caliber pistols, 287 live cartridges, four magazines, 16 fake and 13 blank arms licences, NOC (No Objection Certificate) forms, fake authority letters and 17 fake stamps of district magistrates of Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

Hardial Singh Mann, Senior Superintendent of Police of Ferozepur, says that the owner of Bhajan Gun House, Harbhajan Lal, and its manager, Guruharsahai Arwinder Singh; owner of Kotkapura Gun House, Gurbachan Singh; and the owner of Fauji Gun House, Varinder Singh, were arrested for buying and selling illegal weapons after a case was registered on March 15. Police recovered 287 cartridges of various calibers anf four magazines. “We also arrested Kamal Kant and Amardeep of Baghpat and Auraiya districts in Uttar Pradesh respectively, Dinesh Palta of Ferozepur City, Sant Ram of Ferozepur Cantt and Om Parkash of Panipat in Haryana,’’ says Mann.

The arrested men were involved in smuggling illegal arms and ammunition to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. Their accomplice Kamal Kant, who was arrested by Mansa police earlier, used to buy country-made weapons from a factory in Uttar Pradesh for as less as Rs 20,000 and sell it to Harbhajan’s son Kapil Dev for Rs 40,000. Kapil Dev then sold each illegal weapon to license holders for Rs 1 lakh. He also supplied .32 and .315 caliber cartridges to Kamal Kant. Anil Midha, the owner of Sirsa Gun House in Haryana, was also arrested for his involvement in the gun-running business.

Dinesh Palta worked in Ferozepur’s district court as a typist and had been dealing in the renewal of arms licences, obtaining NOCs and ordering Ordinance revolvers on authority letters. Palta and Sant Ram—in connivance with Harbhajan and Kapil Dev—made many fake arms licences for criminals in Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Delhi and Haryana and provided illegal weapons like .315 caliber rifles, .12 bore shotguns and .32 caliber pistols and revolvers to them. Palta and Sant Ram charged Rs 60,000 per licence. They were arrested and 17 fake stamps of district magistrates of different states, 16 fake arms licences and many blank documents/forms were recovered from them.

Amardeep alias Monu of Baghpat—with the help of Dinesh Palta and Sant Ram—had made many fake arms licences and purchased six .315 caliber rifles, six .12 bore shotguns, a .32 caliber revolver and a .32 caliber pistol on these fake licences. On preliminary investigation, Amardeep disclosed that he had given a rifle and cartridges to a certain Pramod in Baghpat, a criminal involved in many cases, including murder. Pramod has been declared a proclaimed offender by the Uttar Pradesh Police and carries a Rs 1 lakh reward on his head.

Police claim that Om Parkash Kapoor, the owner of Kapoor Gun House in Panipat, was involved with criminals from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana. He provided them with fake arms licences and illegal arms and ammunition.

In January, Ferozepur Police recovered seven country-made weapons, including two .32 caliber revolvers, two .12 bore pistols and three .315 caliber pistols from two arms dealers from Rajasthan. The gun-runners used to procure weapons from Rajasthan at nominal rates and sell them in Punjab at high rates with fake documents.

Despite the CBI and Punjab Police repeatedly pointing a finger of suspicion on most arms dealers in Ferozepur, the administration continues to adopt a liberal attitude in granting arms dealer licenses.