Lure to own a gun taking its toll on border district of Ferozepur

A recent altercation over land dispute at Aku Maste Wala village in this district turned violent as one Sukhdev Singh killed his 55-year-old uncle, Mukhtiar Singh, who was working in the fields, with his licensed gun.

Another daylight firing incident made headlines recently as a youth was seen carrying a gun and walking down the street after killing his old associate following an ugly argument.

On May 31, a young sarpanch, Jashan Bawa of Tarinda village in Guru Har Sahai, killed himself with his licensed pistol.

On May 15, one Jagjeet Singh tried to kill his brother-in-law, Jagraj Singh, with his licensed pistol during a kabaddi match at Arif ke village in this district, allegedly over a family dispute.

These are no isolated incidents. Several such cases are coming to the fore where the trigger-happy license holders resort to firing over slight provocations leaving both the victim and accused families to suffer for years.

There are around 25,000 arms licence holders in this border district alone. Many have two firearms on a single licence. If we add unlicensed weapons brought from other states like UP and Bihar it makes the number of small firearms quite substantial. In Punjab, there are an estimated over 4 lakh firearms licence holders.

The menace has assumed alarming proportions in this border district where the lure to own a gun scores over having costly SUVs and swanky bikes.

Both young and old, urban and rural, like to flaunt weapons. For most, it’s a status symbol to possess firearms. But on many an occasion, petty arguments take a violent turn and the weapons, both licensed or illegal, are used in fit to rage to settle scores.

“The trend is worrisome as virtually every other household has guns now,” says an official, on condition of anonymity, adding that in case they refuse to issue the licence, they get calls from “influential” people to do so.

While advising the licensees to be responsible, Deputy Commissioner Deepshikha Sharma says they check all parameters including the age, need and purpose before approving an arms licence.

SSP Bhupinder Singh says that in most crime cases, illegal weapons brought from other states are used, adding that police have seized a large number of such weapons.

Earlier, the CBI had initiated an inquiry into the issuance of arms licences in this district during which thousands of fake licences were found.  It was found that 26 proclaimed offenders were in possession of arms licences which were cancelled after an inquiry by the DC office.

Punjab