Post MLA’s gun attack, arms licences in Thane to be scrutinised

While Dumbare, who joined the Thane commissionerate recently, said he had always been very conservative in granting licences, the Thane city police have issued licences to nearly 4,000 persons, a large number of politicians, builders and self-styled social activists included

THANE: After the shocking Friday incident where BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad shot a political opponent point-blank in a police station, the Thane police have been instructed by the state government to carry out a complete scrutiny of arms licences. Speaking to the Hindustan Times on Sunday, Thane police commissioner Ashutosh Dumbare said he would start on it immediately.

Post MLA’s gun attack, arms licences in Thane to be scrutinised

While Dumbare, who joined the Thane commissionerate recently, said he had always been very conservative in granting licences, the Thane city police have issued licences to nearly 4,000 persons, a large number of politicians, builders and self-styled social activists included. Indeed, sources in the state police said that Thane was the go-to place to acquire a gun licence—whenever an applicant failed to manage one in Mumbai or Navi Mumbai, they would fabricate residential proof in Thane city and become eligible for a licence.

A deputy commissioner of police who earlier worked in Thane said that the Thane police were also notorious for giving police protection to those who wanted it merely as a status symbol. “Even people who are not residents of Thane city and are staying in Mumbai have got protection,” he said. “The Thane police should have taken a review of the arms licence issued to MLA Ganpat Gaikwad. As an MLA, he had armed police protection 24 x 7 and did not need a firearm.”

An agent who acquires arm licences for people said that the minimum cost of procuring a licence was ₹15 lakh, and bribes were distributed at various levels. “It is easy to get an arms licence in Thane,” he said. “Ask someone to issue threats to you or get yourself attacked and then file a police complaint or FIR which will help you get a licence. On some occasions, the applicants ask a minister or top politician to call the licensing authority and recommend them.” A top officer in the Thane police said that the licences of all those with criminal cases would now be cancelled.

Former Thane police commissioner Krishpal Raghuvanshi said there was a government policy in place on who should get an arms licences and who should not. “The gun culture has to be brought under control,” he said. “A gun licence is for self-protection and not for killing. In the past too, Thane has seen such incidents. The misuse of arms licences must be taken very seriously.”

V V Lakshminarayan, former joint commissioner of police in Thane, claimed that the issuance of weapon licences was done with proper scrutiny and by assessing the threat perception to the applicant. “Even during renewal time, the threat perception has to be analysed,” he said. “But those using weapons as a status symbol should be stopped from getting a licence.”

Former DGP Praveen Dixit said that arms licences were given for a specific period and there needed to be very strict scrutiny when they came up for renewal. “No arms licence should be renewed automatically,” he said.