KATHMANDU: On March 6, police raided a house at Kapilvastu and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including an SMG rifle, bullet, magazine, and a pistol.
Prior to this, police acting on intelligence input confiscated illegal arms from Itahari and Pokhara stored in a house.
Police suspect that these illegal arms are intended to be used to intensify bombing as well as kidnapping operations in the country.
They have been using the arms to extort money, getting huge contracts, killing or poaching of endangered animals, kidnapping or demanding ransom, and carrying out illicit trade, among others.
“It is high time that the government stepped up vigilance and security measures to counter the use of illegal weapons,” Jay Bahadur Chand, a former additional inspector of police said.
He said that such a tendency could even lead to the possibility of misuse of legal arms. The use of illegal arms has been a growing problem in the country.
Police suspect that people with criminal background acquiring a license to possess arms has seen a rise with several of them changing their behavior and seeking out arms in a different manner.
They have been using the arms to extort money, getting huge contracts, killing or poaching of endangered animals, kidnapping or demanding ransom, and carrying out illicit trade, among others.
Says Uttam Raj Subedi, spokesperson of Nepal Police, “These weapons fuel criminal activities while spawning a culture of violence. Reports suggest ninety-five percent of the criminal activities in the country have been carried out by using such weapons.”
After the downfall of the Ranas in 1950, the government passed a law aimed at controlling the use of arms forbidding license to citizens for possessing small arms. However, during the Panchayat regime, some influential people having nexus with the palace started possessing small arms.
Currently, Nepali citizens can legally possess 12 bore guns along with one hundred bullets, 22-bore guns with 200 round bullets, and air-guns only.
The number of such ‘influential people’ acquiring license to possess small arms increased significantly after the restoration of democracy in 1990. The then cabinet authenticated the possession of such arms to a few influential and high-ranking individuals citing ‘security reasons’.
Currently, Nepali citizens can legally possess 12 bore guns along with one hundred bullets, 22-bore guns with 200 round bullets, and air-guns only.
However, the Home Ministry does not have the actual data of how many people have obtained the license to possess guns in the last three years. According to a Home Ministry statistics, a total of 34 thousand 314 arms, including pistol, revolver, improvised or home-made, and other guns have been found to be registered until 2015.
According to Ram Prasad Acharya, Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, a total of 11 thousand registered arms are in Kathmandu alone. He said the number of people applying for a license is overwhelmingly on a rise.
If the number of license seekers and arms possessors is to be considered, it will exceed the number of security forces in the country. Most of the arms make their way into the people’s hands and are made in the USA, Singapore, United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany.
According to Home Ministry data, a significant number of industrialists, political leaders, upper-class people, a few dons and political cadres are found to be possessing arms legally.
Likewise, all banks have acquired the license to possess guns. Each bank can own five to eight guns, according to the Home Ministry.
According to the Arms and Ammunition Act, any person wanting to acquire the license should submit an application in the prescribed form to the Chief District Officer (CDO).
However, the CDO may issue the license only if he/she deems it appropriate to issue the license with the prescribed terms and conditions.
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