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ShareThe arms licensing branch issued licences to at least 300 people, mostly of dubious credentials
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have busted a racket run by its own officers in which hundreds of national arms licences were issued in violation of procedures.
The racket was allegedly run in connivance with senior police officers. Among those who were issued illegal licences are defence and paramilitary personnel, bureaucrats and businessmen.
A particularly worrying aspect of the scandal is that the licences could have been issued to many outlaws as well since there was no credential check.
All state governments can issue arms licences, but securing such a licence is no easy task. There are stringent verification norms, not to speak of a long waiting list.
In Delhi, the police are the state arms licensing authority, while the office of the lieutenant governor (LG) issues national licences, a job assigned to the office of the director-general of police in other states.
The scandal was unearthed when Delhi Police records of national licenses were found to be different from those of the lieutenant governor's office.
At last count, the discrepancy in the number was 300, with hundreds more fraudulent licences expected to surface.
A senior officer in the licensing branch said: "During a scrutiny of our documents in 2004, we found that some all-India licences had quoted order numbers from the LG's office. Upon checking with the LG's office, we found that the licence holders' names were missing from the records. We reported the matter to the economic offences wing (EOW)."
More discrepancies in the licensing branch's records came to light in 2006, but it was only in 2007 that the scale of the racket became apparent following yet another scrutiny of the records.
The licensing branch officer said the fraudulent licences could not have been issued without the consent of IPS officers. Indeed, the names of certain senior police officers of the rank of deputy commissioner have come up during investigation. A retired assistant commissioner, too, has been named.
An EOW officer said the matter was under investigation. "We have received case files from the licensing branch," additional commissioner of police (EOW) SBK Singh said, adding, "It appears that all-India licences were fraudulently issued and forged documents used."
A senior EOW officer, who is part of the investigation, said the licences were given in return for money.
"It is certain that some of our officers are involved in the scandal," he said, "but bringing them to book may not be easy."
It is surprising that the EOW has not yet opened individual cases for each of the fraudulent licences issued, though the case files were transferred to it a long time ago.
"Now that it is clear that the licences are illegal, the law enforcement agency is bound to register individual cases," a senior police officer said. "But may be there is pressure not to take action."
aditya_k@dnaindia.net
