KARACHI, Jan 18: A drive launched by the Sindh government last month to register licensed weapons at the police stations concerned has failed to yield positive results, it has emerged.

The Sindh home department had launched the arms registration drive.

An advertisement published by the home department on Dec 6 in several national dailies called on all arms licence holders to register their weapons with the nearest police station and issuing authority soon after the issuance of the licence and the purchase of the weapon.

It stated that in case of non-compliance, the weapon could be confiscated without any notice under the Arms Rules 1924, sub-rule (1) and the weapons of any non-compliant citizens would be seized after 15 days from publication of the advertisement, i.e. by Dec 21.

However, in view of a lacklustre response, the government was forced to extend the deadline by another 15 days, which in ended the first week of January.

Requesting anonymity, an official of the home department admitted that the drive failed to produce the desired results.

His view was seconded by the Capital City Police Officer, Waseem Ahmed, who also conceded that the results of the drive were discouraging. “There was a mild response as people are not very forthcoming about the arms’ registration (drive).”

He, however, strongly advocated the need for the enforcement of a dormant law, the Illicit Arms Recovery Act 1991, to check the proliferation of arms in the city.

The CCPO said that the federal government could activate the act for a specific period on the recommendation of the provincial government.

He said that the act carries the maximum punishment of life imprisonment and the cases of illegal arms possession would be tried by an anti-terrorism court. Presently, such cases are dealt with by the lower courts and it is a bailable offence.

The Sindh Home Secretary, Arif Ahmed Khan, said that the response of licence holders was not an overwhelming one as a few thousand had registered their weapons during the 30-day drive.

He told Dawn that a number of concerned citizens had called him to find out about the weapons’ registration process.

He disclosed that there is no bar on the registration of arms and anyone can still register his/her licence. However, if a person is caught with an unregistered licence, the weapon and the licence would be confiscated and the person would be prosecuted, the home secretary asserted.

Official sources told Dawn that a substantial number of arms licences issued by the Sindh government since 2003 have not been properly documented by the authorities concerned.

Well-placed sources in the provincial government said that an overwhelming number of arms licence holders have not fulfilled the proper procedures required before and after the issuance of the licence.

In some cases police verifications have been exempted. Officials put the total of such licences at around 5,000 to 6,000.