Gun licences of 282 people facing criminal cases suspended in MP's Morena

Morena (MP), Sep 24 (PTI) Authorities in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday suspended the arms licences of 282 people facing criminal cases, mandating them to surrender their weapons to the police, officials said.

This is for the first time in the district that such a large number of arms licences have been suspended, they said.

Morena district collector Ankit Asthana said the Superintendent of Police prepared a list of 411 licenced arms holders, against whom criminal cases were either registered or were being heard in courts.

On the recommendation of the SP, the district magistrate court issued show-cause notices to these persons in the district, he said.

Of these, only 129 submitted orders of acquittal for the offences mentioned against them, Asthana said.

"So, the arms licences of the remaining 282 people were suspended for non-submission of their documents," he said.

Morena SP Sameer Saurabh said the police authorities had prepared a list of 411 licence-holders by scanning the record of the last 16 years.

"Now those whose licences have been suspended will have to surrender their weapons soon. Failure to do so will result in a case under the Arms Act," he said.

For the people residing in the Gwalior-Chambal region of the state, carrying guns is considered a matter of pride and status symbol. There have often been complaints of the use of licenced guns during disputes and clashes.

In Morena district alone, the number of arms licence holders is more than 25,000, according to the officials. PTI COR BNS MAS NP