21 J&K natives held in city for violating gun licence terms

The property cell of Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested 21 security guards for allegedly violating terms and conditions of firearm licences.

The accused were allegedly using commercially rifles bought using personal licences.

Crime Branch staff said the natives of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir came to the city over the past two years and were staying in Rajiv Nagar Slums in Bandra.

"Acting on a tip-off, we raided their place Wednesday and recovered 21 12-bore rifles, including 15 double-barrel ones.

"The accused have licences issued by police in Poonch district for self-protection. However, they had used the arms to obtain employment with B R Security India Limited and had been guarding banks, malls and jewellery outlets," said joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy.

He said the accused also violated rule 63 of Arms Act by retaining firearms used professionally and by not registering their weapons with Mumbai Police within 30 days of moving to the city. They have all been booked under section 30 of the Act.

"We are approaching Poonch Police to check if they have a criminal background. We are also examining legal provisions to take action against their employers," said Roy.

In August last year, security guard Ahmed Sajjad Mughal (28) was arrested for the gruesome murder of Pallavi Purkayashta (25), a law graduate and daughter of an IAS officer, in her Chembur residence.

Wadala TT Police later booked his employer, AH Security, and arrested two people for not checking his background. Roy said a special drive started by Crime Branch against violations of gun licence conditions would continue in the days to come.

The arrests come less than a month after Maharashtra Police began a state-wide survey to prevent commercial use of weapons bought using personal licences.

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