Thane: Cops start scrutinising gun licences

Police sources said that while giving out firearm licences, many procedures must be followed. Representation Pic

Politicians, businessmen, builders, activists and other individuals holding firearm licences are under the scanner of the Thane police. The action comes in the wake of shooting incidents involving political leaders. The cops will examine the social media accounts of licence holders to check if they have used their guns as props while making reels.

As per the Thane police's records, around 4,350 people in their jurisdiction have licensed firearms. The authorities will now check their background details to take preventive action. "Many licence-holders upload reels and videos on social media. Also, it's a trend in Thane and adjoining areas to hire bouncers and show off firearms at public events. If we come across any such cases, action will be taken," said an official.

Sources from the Thane police said if a licence-holder has a criminal record or has carried out some wrongdoing, their licence may be confiscated or the firearms could be seized after following the due procedure.

Alarming incident

After a recent incident in Ulhasnagar where BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad fired at Mahesh Gaikwad, the city president of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) inside Hill Line police station, questions were raised about the misuse of licensed firearms. In light of this, the Thane police formed a committee headed by Thane Commissioner of Police Ashutosh Dumbre to scrutinise firearm licence-holders.

"We have started the process. We will see how many licence-holders are there and if they have renewed their licences. We will find out if any criminal cases have been registered against them and if they are using their weapons to threaten people or take revenge. After the verification is done, we will take a call on suspending licences or confiscating firearms," said a senior Thane police officer.

According to police sources, of the 4,350 firearm licences, 1,900 were handed out to those residing in Thane city while 1,191 licence-holders reside in Kalyan-Dombivli. There are around 674 firearm licence-holders in the Ulhasnagar division. Of these, Ulhasnagar city, Ambernath and Badlapur account for 285, 199 and 190, respectively.

Procedures must be followed

Police sources said that while giving out firearm licences, many procedures must be followed. It must be ascertained why the applicant needs a gun, whether he is capable of having one and if it will be safe with him. Any person with more than four criminal cases is denied a permit.

"However, in Thane many have got firearms using different methods such as staging an attack on themselves or by faking threat calls, thus obtaining a licensed firearm for self-defence. Some even use political contacts and pressure and few make under-the-table payments to get licences," said a source. It is said that Ganpat Gaikwad had received a permit after receiving a threat call from gangster Ravi Pujari. Many other applicants claimed they had received similar calls from the gangster.

Police Speak

P K Jain, former additional DGP, said, "Earlier, during a major festival, the police used to ask all license-holders to deposit their firearms in the police station. This was also done during elections. The same practice should be followed now. However, many a time, if a case or non-cognisable offence is registered against a licence-holder, the police are not aware of it. But if they can give him a notice, suspend or revoke his licence or revoke it or confiscate the weapon."

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis had also announced that the Maharashtra government will ensure all gun licences issued in the state are scrutinised and a background check on licence holders is carried out.

4,350
No of permit-holders in Thane

1,900
No of gun permit-holders in Thane city