Licences issued by DC office under scanner

The Amritsar district administration has decided to scrutinise each arms licence issued by the deputy commissioner's (DC) office after the Patiala police had recently unearthed a fake arms licence racket operating from the holy city.

Amritsar district administration has decided to scrutinise each arms licence issued by the deputy commissioner's (DC) office after the Patiala police had recently unearthed a fake arms licence racket operating from the holy city.

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As part of the operation, the probing team will begin from the very first licence issued by the Amritsar DC office and then go through nearly 20,000 such licences to date. "We are going to start the probe from licence number one. I don't have the exact number of licences in Amritsar, but each issued by the DC office will be probed," additional deputy commissioner (ADC) SS Gulati, who is heading the inquiry team, said.

Gulati said some persons posted in the arms licence branch were yet to meet the investigating team. "A few are yet to come. We are hopeful that they will join the probe soon," he said.

The police commissionerate system was introduced in Amritsar in May 2010. Since then, the city police have been issuing arms licences to residents within the municipal limits, while the DC office has been responsible for the licences issued to residents living in other parts of the district.

The racket was unearthed after the Patiala police had recently arrested one Gaurav Arora, the owner of Amritsar-based Arora Gun House. The police also seized 17 weapons, including pistols and guns, in connection with the racket. Patiala police had claimed that the dealer, allegedly in connivance with someone in Amritsar DC office, got arms licences issued to people from Delhi, Haryana and other states, by showing them as residents of Amritsar district.

Later, the police had arrested Delhi residents Parveen Kumar and Prem Mohan. Both had, it is alleged, bought weapons and got their licences issued from Amritsar. After ordering a probe, the Amritsar administration had sealed the arms licence branch. It is learnt that the police had seized more weapons after questioning Arora.