Special team to tackle small arms

KATHMANDU, Feb 10: Shocking enough is the fact that there has hardly been any instance of weapons seizure from a core source or of crackdown on smuggling rackets. Cops most often arrest persons carrying weapons but do not bother to investigate further once litigation is brought against those apprehended.



The trend so far appears unquestioned.[break]



Preparations are on, however, to break this stalemate. A team with skilled investigation officials is being formed under the Metropolitan Police Commissioner´s Office (MPCO) to this end. The team, a revamp of the existing weapons cell at MPCO, will zero in on the sources of small arms that nourish crime in the Metropolis.



“We are fortifying our efforts to combat the threat of small arms. For that, a special team is being formed,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Surendra Bahadur Shah at MPCO told Republica. “We are focusing on building up a new intelligence network as the backbone of our new anti-arms venture.”



Shah admitted that efforts to combat the prevalence and use of small arms in the capital had so far been of the customary type. “We have not been searching where the arms come from,” he added.



A drive to get at the sources of small arms is in the offing, challenging rank-and-file skepticism that most of the seizures are stage managed by the cops themselves. Many high-profile small arms seizures that are looked at politically by the authorities and also followed up by heavy media coverage were not investigated properly.



Officials, who did not want to be named for their comments about operations, argued that going after a single case could not be their priority in the face of multiple tasks on a regular basis.


´Capital, haven for small arms´



Around 50 small arms were seized in Kathmandu district alone last year. The number of seizures made in sporadic operations by different units is, however, small in view of the estimated figure of around 10,000 small arms posessed in the capital, if a secret report of the Nepal Police, is to be believed.



Involvement of the security authorities also looks lackluster in light of information that seems to be in the report. The report has a range of facts from the main areas where small arms traffickers congregate to prominent groups that seem to possess the weapons. It also explains the entire process of small arms import, local prices and general merchandising methods.



“We definitely lack resources but, most importantly, a zeal to work for combating the prevalence of small arms. Otherwise, not only would the number of seizures have been much higher but even major rackets trading weapons could have been busted,” said officials. “Cops generally create hoaxes in the name of seizures. Actually they order small arms themselves and crack down on the carriers. It is the easiest thing to do.”



Prevalence of small arms is directly linked to various sorts of crimes like robbery, extortion and kidnapping that are undermining the entire system of security in the capital.



Among those prone to small arms use are underground groups that have political cover but subsist on crime. Many who fled the UCPN (Maoist), political groups that parted ways with the same party, the Young Communist League (YCL) and the CPN(UML)´s Youth Force have also been portrayed in the report as possessing small arms on a large scale.



Business entrepreneurs also keep small arms. Those involved in nighttime entertainment business, contractors, owners of manpower companies, realtors and proprietors of shopping malls have been identified by the report as possessing illegal weapons.

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