Tribune News Servic

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, February 15

The district administration has declared as invalid as many as 236 arms licences after a three-month scrutiny of existing licence-holders.

Officials said as many as 154 licences had ceased to be in force, while 82 stood cancelled after adverse police report.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner Ashika Jain said: “There are 7,512 arms licence-holders in the district. During scrutiny, applications, address and supporting documents were verified. New licence will be issued only after ascertaining exceptional grounds exist for a person to keep arms in his possession.”

Under the current guidelines, up to two weapons can be registered against an arms licence in the state, in comparison to three earlier. The licence-holders in the district having three weapons registered against their licence had been instructed to get one weapon cancelled or face action. “New licence and renewals are under scrutiny. In case an FIR is registered against an existing holder or the person is too old to handle the weapon safely, his licence is reviewed before renewal,” said a police official.

Last year, 18 arms licences on an average were issued per month by the district administration, which has now come down considerably.

“There are 217 women arms licence-holders in Mohali now,” she added.

In November, the state home department had issued instructions regarding use of arms and issuance of licences. A review of existing licences was ordered to be completed within three months. Besides, a mandatory inspection of shops, premises and stocks of all gun houses on a quarterly basis across the state was ordered.

3-month review conducted

• District carried out a 3-month scrutiny to verify applications, address, papers
• While 154 licences ceased to exist, 82 were cancelled after adverse police report
• Currently, there are 7,512 licence-holders in district, of whom 217 are women
• Up to two arms can be registered against a licence in state, compared to 3 earlier