Fake arms licence ring uncovered in Punjab
The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has uncovered a ring that has been supplying counterfeit arms licences in various districts of Punjab, The Express Tribune has learnt. The discovery, made with the help of its various district offices, has already been conveyed to the province’s home department.
The development came to light after NADRA’s head of E-governance Gohar Abbas wrote a letter to the province’s additional home secretary. The letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, revealed that several NADRA offices in Punjab, particularly in Sahiwal, Pakpattan and Gujranwala, had reported receiving a large number of supposedly Mianwali-based manual weapon licences for revalidation.
Upon scrutiny, it became apparent that holders of these licences did not have Mianwali as either a permanent or temporary address on their CNICs, the letter stated. That was not all, however, as most of the license books appeared to be brand new despite being dated to between five and ten years ago. Many of the counterfeit licences also bore the same license and book numbers.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, sources said these fake manual licences were being sold for between Rs25,000 and Rs35,000. According to them, the ring behind these counterfeit arms licences has been operating unimpeded due to the home department’s lack of an additional judicial secretary. “As the office is lying vacant, no action has been taken against the counterfeiters as yet,” an official said.
Following a National Accountability Bureau drive three years ago, fake weapon license makers had seemingly been driven out of business, sources said. “Now, some individuals have revived these counterfeiting operations in connivance with some officials of various district arms branches,” the official revealed.
“The holder of the fake license is apparently assured that they will be able to get it verified from NADRA,” the official said. “But due to the requirement introduced by the government two years ago, the counterfeiting mafia is having trouble getting fake licences verified,” he added.
There are around 143,000 manual licences currently awaiting verification at various district arms branches in Punjab. The bulk of these, around 70,000, are currently with the Lahore Arms Branch, with another 20,000 and 10,000 in the arms branches of Sheikhupura and Mianwali.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2020.