Industrialists and the business community in this crime city of Uttar Pradesh have decided to wield the gun to fight the growing number of attacks on them. And they are being supported in their endeavour by none other than the district police chief himself.

On Wednesday, the district police authorities organised a meeting with traders at the Police Lines here where the law and order situation was discussed. This was followed by a training in the use of firearms at the police firing range. The training session was led by SSP Anand Swaroop. Encouraged by the move, the traders have requested more such training sessions to be held under the guidance of the district police.

Industrialist Mickey Manchanda told The Indian Express that majority of the businessmen in the city owned weapons, but these were merely a style statement as hardly 10 per cent of them knew how to load them. “Once the traders gain expertise in using firearms, it would deter anti-social elements from attacking them,” Manchanda said.

Alok Singh, a prominent businessman of the city, said there had been a spurt in crimes against the traders as miscreants found them an easy target. “There is a need to simplify the process for issuing arms licences to the traders and police should hold training sessions for them too,” he said.

Official sources clarified that though weapon licensing was a complicated process, the administration had made it considerably easier for the traders. “The applications of the traders, on the basis of individual threat perception, were being taken up on priority,” they said.

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