Lathi-wielding cops sitting ducks for trigger-happy gangs

It's not just the public. Men in khaki are also under constant threat due to the emerging gun culture in the city.

It's not just the public. Men in khaki are also under constant threat due to the emerging gun culture in the city.

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There has been a sporadic rise in the incidents of firing on policemen. The police personnel on night vigil are mostly unarmed, so they avoid any confrontation with criminals who are equipped with weapons. In October last year, a police constable, Tridev, was shot at near a police picket in Palam Vihar.

He was posted at a police station in Rewari. The incident took place when there was an encounter between the robbers and a police team. Tridev was injured in the incident.

“We are not well equipped with weapons, while criminals are. We generally avoid any confrontation with them during nights,” said a policeman, requesting anonymity.

According to the police, there has been a rise in illegal arms trade in Delhi and other National Capital Region (NCR).

In many cases, teenagers too have resorted to guns for settling minor scores.

In December 2007, a 14-year-old boy was shot dead by two of his classmates in Euro International School in Gurgaon. The duo, sons of property dealers, fired five bullets from a licensed pistol at Abhishek Tyagi in the corridor of the school after an argument.

According to the police, crimes committed by first-time criminals are mostly by illegal guns.

They prefer the illegal ones as the licensed guns are traceable, said a police officer on the condition of anonymity.