MUZAFFARABAD: A schoolteacher was booked under the Arms Act after police seized a huge cache of firearms at his residence near the Line of Control (LoC), an official said on Monday.

Muhammad Ejaz, a junior teacher in a state-run school, had been involved in sale of arms and ammunition in Jandrot village of Nakyal tehsil in Kotli district for quite some time, said Superintendent of Police (SP) Chaudhry Zulqarnain Sarfraz.

“On a tip-off that he [schoolteacher] has stashed a sizeable quantity of weapons at his residence, a police team conducted a raid on Sunday night after obtaining search warrants from the local sub divisional magistrate,” said the SP.

The team, he said, seized six AK-47 assault rifles [Kalashnikov], two 12-bore repeaters resembling Kalashnikov, one 223-bore gun and five MP5, 30-bore guns, seven 30-bore pistols, one 9mm pistol, 41 magazines and 2367 bullets of different bores and a dagger.

SP Sarfaraz said the schoolteacher would also provide weapons on rent for wedding ceremonies.

He said it would be premature to say if Ejaz was linked with any outlawed militant group or worked for an enemy country.

“Apparently, he was involved in the illicit business [sale of arms and ammunition] for the sake of money,” said the police officer, adding that further details would come to fore on completion of interrogations.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2017