Illicit ammunition trade creeps up in Punjab

Major cities like Lahore fear a surge in crime and violence as unregistered guns begin to circulate

LAHORE:

Illegal arms flowing in from the country’s tribal belt appear to have found a lucrative market in major cities of the Punjab province. These deadly firearms, which include knockoffs of AK-47s, M-16 rifles, Beretta pistols and Kalashnikovs, are hand-manufactured without safety standards in villages like Darra Adam Khel, and have become increasingly popular in urban centres for their cut-price. Their biggest buyers are said to be petty criminals and youths on a budget.

Unlicensed firearms like such are next to impossible to trace, which makes them the perfect choice for anyone with a devious agenda. While the law shuns their trade, a significant number of arms dealers in Lahore, licensed to operate by the Home Department, are said to be involved in their trade right under the authority’s nose.

In addition to that, while the inauthenticity of these guns is common knowledge in villages where they are produced, it is believed that urban buyers at times are also duped into buying these state-of-the-art replicas for millions of rupees, taking them to be original.

The buying and selling of these firearms has taken wings in the provincial capital in recent times, owing to an ad hoc registration process and poor investigation and prosecution related to cases of illegal arms trade. The police are often seen as an accomplice to the crime, arresting offenders of the category only to let them out in a few hours or assisting their bail, which has encouraged more and more registered traders to invest in this lucrative business on the side.

Furthermore, despite trying for quite some time now, the Punjab Home Department has also failed to complete the computerisation of records of arms dealers allowed to operate in the province. Per estimates, out of 156 dealers in Lahore, 104 have not yet undergone NADRA computerisation, while the easy availability of forged licenses has also pushed the proliferation of illegal weapons.

Market surveys reveal that a forged license, available in booklet form in Lahore or card style in Islamabad, can be acquired for anywhere between Rs30,000 to Rs50,000, while most small firearms come at a price tag ranging between Rs10,000 to Rs35,000.

“Most of the dealers around Ravi Road in Lahore are involved in the illegal trade of firearms as a secondary business and belong to Peshawar and tribal areas. A lot of street criminals buy these guns because they are low-investment and can be easily ditched after committing a crime without worrying about being traced,” a source privy to the gun trade explained.

Per retired Additional Sessions Judge Misbah Bhatti, sale of illicit arms after the amendments made under the National Action Plan is a non-bailable offense under sections 13-20-65, but due to the negligence and collusion of the police and the prosecution, bail is granted in a few hours.

Sources further informed that the check and balance by government departments on the manufacture and sale of IEDs is very weak, as these weapons are manufactured in unlicensed arms workshops set up in houses or shops in the tribal areas. “They lack serial numbers and specific tracing codes are also not engraved on them,” he added.

Speaking in this regard, Pakistan Arms Traders and Manufacturers Association Chair Farhan Anwar said that the Punjab government in collaboration with NADRA had started the process of computerisation of arms dealers which if and when completed will fully digitise the sale and purchase of firearms. “However, many of our dealers are trying to evade the process of computerisation. According to the law, the person who has been issued the license for arms dealership by the Home Department is solely responsible for it, but many people have given the license on contract and according to the law, even the sale purchase agents have not been registered by the Home Department,” he told adding that the government should increase the issuance of arms licenses so that fake licenses can be stopped.

Per Punjab Police’s senior officer Qaiser, it is the loopholes in the law that allow for offenders of the illegal arms trade to secure bail in a few hours, which he believes is a big reason behind the crime’s growth.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2022.