Ahead of the elections, over 45K licenced guns seized in state

ECI directs seizure of 45,755 licensed guns, along with drugs, liquor, and cash ahead of elections. Poll booths in high-rises set up to boost voting percentage.

MUMBAI: Following directives by the Election Commission of India (ECI), local authorities have seized 45,755 of 77,148 licenced guns in the state. Apart from the prohibitory action against over 13,000 people, the authorities have also seized 699 kgs of drugs and liquor worth ₹14.85 crore and cash worth ₹23.7 crore.

The pistol was being sold on Facebook with a promise of home delivery. (Unsplash)

The action against licensed weapons is significant in the backdrop of crimes with guns over the past few months. Two such cases involving politicians—BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad firing at a Shiv Sena leader inside Ulhasnagar police station and a Borivali-based activist Morris Noronha allegedly killing Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Abhishek Ghosalkar in the suburb -- had shocked the entire state.

Authorities have been directed to keep a close watch on licensed gun holders. Seized weapons would be kept in police custody till the elections are over or till the local authorities think it’s necessary. The owners of the weapons are allowed to continue to keep the guns and weapons only after strict scrutiny of the licenses and their need.

After the Ulhasnagar and Borivali firing incidents, state home department has already asked the police authorities to review the licences issued.

Maharashtra has 77,148 licenced guns and weapons, of which 45,755 have been confiscated or seized. The authorities have also seized 308 weapons that had no licences.

Even before the model code of conduct for general elections in the country set in on March 16, authorities started acting against illegal and suspicious activities from March 1.

On Saturday, at a press meet, the office of the chief electoral officer of Maharashtra revealed the data of seizures of suspicious stock of liquor, precious metals, money and drugs worth ₹269 crore. (See box.)

“The entire stock of the liquor and other items is not illegal, but has been seized and intercepted on suspicions. The goods and items will be released if the stock is not found to be illegal,” said S Chockalingam, CEO, Maharashtra. He also added that the authorities permit the use of the licenced weapons to the holders engaged in the handling of precious metals and cash in financial institutions.

Poll booths in high-rises

The state arm of ECI has also undertaken a special drive to set up dedicated polling booths in high-rises and large housing complexes in Mumbai, Thane and other cities.

More than 150 such booths have been set up in Mumbai, Pune and Thane, with the highest being in the country’s financial capital. “We identify the housing complexes with more than 1200 voters and request them to allow us to set up dedicated booths with the intention of increasing the voting percentage in the metropolis. We expect the number of these dedicated booths to increase at the time of the assembly elections,” said Chokalingam, adding the poll body was taking measures to increase the registration of first-time voters.

Maharashtra has 98,100 polling booths, including 988 ancillary booths that have been added to facilitate voters to exercise their franchise without any hassle.