Accused at large, cops still clueless
Though the police claimed that a thorough checking is conducted before the issue and renewal of firearms licence, the flow of illegal weapons to the city is posing a severe threat. The fire arms licence issue came to the fore with the firing incident on Friday night at Mailardevpally in which a realtor was shot.
Senior police officers said that regular checks are conducted on suspects and arms suppliers who have a large client base in the city.
In most of the firing cases in the city, country-made firearms were used. The police said that the countrymade firearms are procured from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for `50,000.
The manufacturers could be former employees of ordnance factories who have set up their own foundries to churn out illegal weapons. Though they have formed a network, individuals can also purchase from them directly.
“They make weapons in their workshops. While the weapons are made in different designs, the bores are made with the available size as the ammunition used is the original produce of the ordnance units which they obtain through illegal means and theft,” an official, on condition of anonymity, said.
“There is no mechanism to control illegal weapons in the city. Regular monitoring should be strengthened and efforts must be made to trace the origin to cut short the supply.” another official added.
Illegal firearms in the city have come down as repeated offenders are detained under the Prevention Detention (PD) Act, the police added. friends drove Mustafa to Virinchi Hospital at Banjara Hills in his white Mercedes.
The CCTV footage at the hospital showed two persons accompanying Mustafa and Zubair in the car and they were joined by two persons after they reached the hospital.
Though the hospital staff offered Mustafa a stretcher, he preferred to walk with the help of his friends. After Mustafa walked in, Zubair and his friends were seen driving away.
“Mustafa’s last mobile location was traced to Gachibowli on Saturday morning. After that, the phone is in a switched-off mode. We suspect he took ORR and moved out of the city,” said an official. It was also learnt that Zubair’s father, Shahnawaz Hussain, is seeking an anticipatory bail for his son. The police said that they are collecting evidence to oppose the bail plea.
“Mustafa is tightlipped about the incident and Zubair is missing. They can reveal the motive and where and how the firing happened,” said Mr P. Ashok, ACP, Rajendranagar. While controlling illegal weapons is itself a concern to the police, the misuse of weapons by the licenced holders is adding to their woes.
The police follows strict norms while issuing weapons licences. However, monitoring the activities of the weapons holder is a challenge. Senior police officers said that after the earlier incidents, where licenced weapons were found to be misused by their owners, the city police started geo-tagging the licence holder which yielded results. The city has nearly 4,500 licenced weapons, while Cyberabad and Rachakonda together have around 2,500 licenced weapons.
In February 2016, Dr Shashikiran shot his partner Dr Uday over an argument with a licenced weapon at Himayathnagar. Though Dr Uday escaped with a bullet injury, Shashikiran shot himself next day and committed suicide in a farmhouse in Moinabad. In August 2017, Sriram Bhadraiah, a former MLA of Mahabubabad, was booked by the police for assaulting a realtor with his licenced weapon at Kothapet. There are many incidents when the licensed weapons are used for threatening opponents in financial or land disputes that go unreported.
“There is an emotional angle to these incidents. Some pull it out to show off. There is no solution to tackle this emotional aspect,” an official said.
The police said that they conduct a thorough probe about the person who applies for a weapon licence.