Kolkata gun shop under police scanner in ammunition smuggling case

A century-old gun shop located within 200 metres of the Kolkata police headquarters at Lalbazar, was searched and sealed on Saturday evening, hours after one of its employees was arrested

Kolkata: The special task force (STF) of the West Bengal police arrested five people between Friday and Sunday in connection with a probe into suspected siphoning of ammunition meant for licensed firearms owners to criminals, officials involved in the probe said.

Only owners of licensed firearms can buy ammunition from authorised gun shops and they cannot buy as much ammunition as they want. (Representational image)

N C Daw and Company, a century-old gun shop located within 200 metres of the Kolkata police headquarters at Lalbazar, was searched and sealed on Saturday evening, hours after one of its employees was arrested.

“The home of Haji Rashid Molla, a businessman residing at Jibantala in South 24 Parganas district, was raided on Friday and 190 rounds of 7.65 mm pistol cartridge made by the Indian Ordnance Factory was seized from the house along with a 12-bore shotgun and nine shells meant for the weapon,” an official said, requesting anonymity.

Asique Iqbal Gazi and Abdul Salim Gazi, who are residents of Hasnabad in North 24 Parganas district and Jayanta Dutta, an employee of N C Daw and Company were arrested on Saturday.

Farooque Mallick, a fish trader, was arrested from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas on Sunday and a 12-bore shotgun was seized from him as well.

“While Haji Rashid Molla claimed that he has a license for the 12-bore shotgun seized from his home, none of the suspects could account for the 190 rounds of pistol ammunition. These cartridges are used at random these days in improvised semi-automatic pistols criminals carry. Gunsmiths in Bengal and Bihar’s Munger can make such pistols with basic tools and lathe machines but ammunition cannot be produced without modern machines that only ordnance factories have,” the officer added.

“Only owners of licensed firearms can buy ammunition from authorised gun shops. But the licencees cannot buy as much ammunition as they want. There is an annual quota set by the Union home ministry. It is apparent that ammunition meant for licencees is somehow reaching criminals,” an officer from the Kolkata police, which is helping the state STF in the investigation, said.

Kolkata police commissioner Manoj Verma refused to comment on the probe.

“The raids are being carried out by the Bengal police STF. They will comment. I should not say anything. Kolkata police have shared some information with them,” Verma told the media.

Dutta’s arrest led the STF team to the gun shop which was searched on Saturday and sealed. The owners of the gun shop were asked to appear before the investigators on Monday. Since it is suspected that Dutta carried the ammunition to Jibantala, the shop’s stock registers have been seized.

“Whenever a license holder buys ammunition, the details are entered into the register. The Ams Act department of the Kolkata police checks the stock registers of all gun shops in the city regularly,” a Kolkata police official said.

The shop owners avoided the media and made no statement.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeted the Trinamool Congress (TMC) as Asique Iqbal Gazi, Abdul Salim Gazi and Farooque Mallick were found to be workers of the ruling party.

“(Chief minister) Mamata Banerjee’s inefficiency as an administrator surface every day. She has turned Bengal into a shopping mall for gun runners. You may find people shopping for AK-47 rifles as well,” BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh brushed aside the allegations.

“The very fact that police are carrying out an Investigaton and making arrests prove that the administration is vigilant,” said Ghosh.