The gun culture appears dominant in Gujranwala region as compared to other regions of the province.
There were six districts in Gujranwala region, including Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Narowal, Mandi Bahauddin and Hafizabad. Official data available with The Express Tribune showed that the most number of cases registered for possession of illegal weapons and suspects arrested were from Gujranwala region when compared with Lahore, Sheikhupura, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Multan, Sahiwal, DG Khan and Bahawalpur.
Besides registration of cases, the most number of guns including Kalashinkovs, rifles, revolvers and pistols were also recovered from Gujranwala region during January 1 to September 30 this year.
As many as 366 Kalashnikovs were seized during the period in Gujranwala police region, while 35 Kalashnikovs were seized in Lahore, 162 from Sheikhupura, 218 from Rawalpindi, 210 from Sargodha, 130 from Faisalabad, 117 from Multan, 57 from Sahiwal, 146 from DG Khan and 40 from Bahawalpur region. When it comes to rifles, Gujranwala region was on top of the list with 573 rifles recovered from the area as compared to Lahore with 233, Sheikhupura with 267 riffles, Rawalpindi with 192, Sargodha with 558, Faisalabad with 335, Multan with 141, Sahiwal with 120, DG Khan with 139 and Bahawalpur region with 86 rifles.
Gujranwala surpassed other areas in revolvers and pistols recovery also with 4,796 handguns recovered from the region.
Lahore came second with 4,332 handguns seized, followed by Sheikhupura with 2,478, Rawalpindi with 2,783, Sargodha with 2,836, Faisalabad with 3,402, Multan with 2,527, Sahiwal with 1,811, DG Khan with 1,748 and Bahawalpur region with 1,631.
However, in the category of shotguns, Gujranwala region came at third as 539 shotguns were recovered from the area. The most shotguns, 865, were recovered from Sargodha region.
The second most shotguns, 673, were recovered from Faisalabad, 189 from Lahore, 410 from Sheikhupura, 293 from Rawalpindi, 370 from Multan, 335 from Sahiwal, 224 from DG Khan and 353 from Bahawalpur region.
The most number of cases of illegal weapons was 6,441, registered in Gujranwala region, followed by Lahore with 4,915 cases, 3,257 in Sheikhupura, 3,357 in Rawalpindi, 4,501 in Sargodha, 4,592 in Faisalabad, 3,091 in Multan, 2,049 in Sahiwal, 2,138 in DG Khan and 2,289 in Bahawalpur region.
A senior officer, while discussing the reasons behind such a huge number of guns present in Gujranwala region, commented that it was a large area, of six districts, with its own set of issues. “The rivers Ravi and Chenab passed through it. The kacha area alongside river banks usually is frequented by outlaws as patrolling by police becomes difficult in such a terrain. Moreover, the culture of prolonged enmities is also rampant in the kacha area belt that also forced the people to carry weapons.”
The area also borders India, he pointed out. “In border areas, smuggling is also a phenomenon. It also contributes to the presence of such a huge number of illegal weapons in the region.”
“A few militant organisations also had their strongholds in the region. They had thousands of their supporters as well as hundreds of workers in Narowal and Sialkot mainly. This also contributed towards huge presence of weapons in the region,” the official elaborated.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2020.
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