PESHAWAR: The Peshawar district administration on Friday decided to form a committee to review the arms dealers’ inventory, details of sales and purchases of arms and rules governing the business.

The decision was taken at a meeting convened to discuss steps to control the sale of prohibited bore weapons and regulating the arms business under the relevant regulations in light of the directions of Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Peshawar Corps Commander Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed.

Commissioner Peshawar division Riaz Khan Mehsud chaired the meeting, which was attended by officials of police and district administrations from Peshawar, Khyber, Frontier Constabulary, Intelligence Bureau and other departments.

The meeting expressed concern over the target killing of law-enforcement personnel and sale of prohibited bore weapons.

The Khyber deputy commissioner told the meeting that they had checked 390 shops of arms dealers in the district and confiscated large quantities of weapons from there.

The meeting decided to form a committee to decide on legal rights of arms dealers in Khyber and Peshawar. The committee will also make it binding on the arms dealers to ensure presence of all their stock at their shops instead of storing it at home or in some other stores. The dealers would also be bound to file monthly stock report to the authorities.

The Peshawar commissioner said the dealers not meeting the legal requirements won’t be allowed to run their businesses.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2022