ISLAMABAD, March 3: If the huge number of illegal arms seized over the past five years by law enforcement agencies is anything to go by, the problem of illegal weapons seems to have become endemic in the country.
A report that the federal interior ministry prepared after compiling data from the four provinces shows that all kinds of weapons were recovered from people who were keeping them without the required licences.
According to the report, from 2008 to 2012 Punjab police seized 2,700 unlicensed Kalashnikovs, 11,453 rifles, 18,802 guns, 15,715 revolvers and 93,224 pistols. The police also seized 18,815 carbines, 17,577 daggers and 3,808 hand grenades.
Over the same period, Sindh police confiscated 2,900 unlicensed Kalashnikovs, 43,866 pistols, 3,000 revolvers and over 1,000 carbines.
As expected, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police seized more illegal weapons than security personnel in the other provinces. The tribal areas in the province are known for producing arms which are supplied across the country.
According to the ministry’s report, police in the province took into custody over 20,000 unlicensed Kalashnikovs, 140,774 pistols/revolvers and 33,500 shotguns/repeaters over the last five years.
During their raids the police also seized nearly 200,000 detonators, which are used in bombs. A huge quantity of dynamite was also seized.
Although Balochistan is in the grip of militancy and also suffers from sectarian violence, its police recovered only a limited number of illegal weapons.
The Balochistan police confiscated 877 unlicensed Kalashnikovs, 330 rifles, 300 pistols/revolvers, 400 shotguns, 250 rocket launchers and a huge quantity of explosives in the last five years.
During the period mentioned, Islamabad police seized 98 Kalashnikovs, 385 rifles, 367 guns and 3,368 pistols.
An interior ministry official with access to information about the formulation of the report told Dawn that the data given in it represented only the “tip of the proverbial iceberg”.
He said the number of people keeping illegal weapons was increasing. When asked to explain the reasons, he said: “We in the ministry think that there are two main reasons why more and more people have started keeping illegal weapons.
“One reason is the people’s lack of trust in the agencies that are supposed to provide security to them. The ease with which the people can obtain a weapon plus its low cost is the other main reason,” he said.
When asked why the people seemed to be reluctant to get their arms registered, the official conceded that the procedure for obtaining the licence was tedious, even tiresome.
“Getting hold of an arms licence has always been considered a tough job in the country,” he remarked.