Up and rising,personal firearm licence applicants

According to him,there were 322 applications last year of which 135 were cleared. Of the 214 applications in 2009,155 were cleared. “In all,in the last three years,the city police cleared 387 licences,” said Bansode. The applications have to go through a process of clearances from the police station,police commissioner and the licence branch committee.

The rural areas saw a rise,from 2009,of nearly 100 applications in 2010.

Statistics obtained from rural areas reveals that last year there were 414 applications as against 307 in 2009,272 in 2008,302 in 2007,282 in 2006 and 247 in 2005. “With a lot of property disputes rising in rural areas,there are lots of applications coming in,” said deputy superintendent of police (rural) Srikrishna Kokate.

Suraj Shinde,a businessman from Khed Taluka who has a revolver licence,said that he had applied for a licence as he felt a threat to his life. “It has been a long and tedious process and I finally got the licence last year,” says.

Land mafia cases being reported in the city are also believed to be responsible for the rise in weapons demand.

A zero pendency drive of the collectorate has seen a lot of licences being cleared in rural areas over the last five to six years. “Even as there were more than a 1,000 appeals pending,only 231 licences remained pending in the last seven years,” said district collector Chandrakant Dalvi on clearances of personal armed licences.

Resident Deputy Collector Anil Pawar said that though there are many applications,not all are given the licence,and many are rejected. “The application has to be scrutinised and even after necessary clearances,there has to be a thorough inquiry before granting licence. The licence has to be renewed every two years,or three,depending on its category.”