A recent data published by the Mumbai Police has stated that the force has seized over 109 illegal firearms last year, arresting 125 accused. Police said that there is a constant crackdown on illegal firearms that are sold in the city but procured from other parts of the country, especially Uttar Pradesh.
According to police officials, there has been a constant crackdown on the anti-social elements dealing in drugs, illegal firearms and other weapons, which has intensified in the last couple of years. While the year 2020 had seen the arrests of 105 accused, seizing 87 firearms and 255 live rounds of ammunition, last year the police seized 109 firearms and 331 live rounds and arrested 125 people.
The statistics have revealed that of the 109 firearms seized last year, 107 were country-made pistols, one imported pistol and one rifle.
A senior police official told the Free Press Journal that most of these country-made weapons are brought in from small towns of Uttar Pradesh, where unlicensed weapons are procured easily at cheaper rates.
These illegal firearms are used for anti-social activities involving criminal gangs. Recently, a Dharavi resident, Amir Shaikh, was at Peela Bungalow area when two people fired four rounds at him from a country-made pistol. The incident took place at around 11 am near the Dharavi sports complex. Locals had rushed Shaikh to hospital. He had suffered three bullet injuries on his face, chest and back, while the fourth bullet brushed his hand, subsequently killing him.
Last week, the Khar Police had arrested a 21-year-old man with possession of a country-made revolver. The man later turned out to be a robber that the police had been searching for for the past three months.
