With the general elections approaching, and 9,000 applications received for issuance of gun licence, the district administration here has put a stop citing “law and order situation”. Officials said that the deluge of applications had led to a pile of work pending at the administration at the tehsil, city magistrate and the collectorate level.
As per the office order issued, documents of around 2,000 applications are complete and currently being processed at the city magistrate’s office. Officials said that these too will now be put on hold till elections and it will be at the administration’s discretion to issue licences.
The UP government had started granting licences for possessing arms, which had been on hold for around four years following a stay by the Allahabad High Court. The court lifted the stay in November 2017.