In a major crackdown on security agencies, the Mumbai police crime branch on Wednesday arrested 21 security guards in the city for illegal possession of firearms. Police sources said the arrested had not registered their weapons in the city.
According to the police, an officer from the property cell of the crime branch, over the past few days, rounded up 21 people, all natives of J&K and Bihar, working as security guards in the city who had not registered their weapons.
“They were apprehended from Bandra. Investigations have revealed that their arms licences were issued from J&K. As per law, a person who has an arms licence, a firearm issued from his/her home state and has come to a place outside his/her state, the person has to register it with the collector or the local police. In this case, these people violated the law,” said a police source.
He added that the police have seized 21 0.12 double-bore rifles and over 40 live cartridges from them. The arrested have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Arms Act. They will be produced before a local court on Thursday.
“Some of them could have procured the weapon from arms dealers in the North-East and Bihar, and have got licences issued so that they could work as guards in the city,” the officer said.
