‘USA’, as in ‘Umarti Sikligar Arms’: An MP village in the shadow of the gun, now aiming for change

The village with around 300 homes has a population of about 2,000, mainly comprising a Sikh sub-community called Sikligars, and tribals from the Barela and Bhil communities. The Sikligars, with a history of working in metallurgy, are said to have supplied weapons to the Khalsa Army led by Sixth Sikh Guru Hargobind Singh and later to princely states and revolutionaries who fought the British in the freedom struggle. As per police, that old profession has now carried on into illegal firearms trade, with other Sikligar settlements in parts of Madhya Pradesh also alleged to be involved.

Overall view of the Umarti village in Madhya Pradesh, infamously known as a hub of illegal pistols. Express photo by Arul Horizon.

Last month, the Pune city police conducted one of the biggest raids on Umarti’s illegal firearm units, after probes into several sensational gang war murders in the city and seizure of country-made pistols kept throwing up the village’s name. The raid came days after six minor boys detained from Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune over a murder were alleged to have procured two pistols and two cartridges from a weapons dealer in Umarti for Rs 50,000.

Travelling about 500 km, 105 police personnel, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Somay Munde and accompanied by counterparts from Jalgaon and Barwani police teams, entered Umarti in the early hours of November 22. The cover of dark was essential given the experience of February, when the Jalgaon police was attacked, with a constable abducted, after they had arrested a firearms dealer from Umarti. The constable was later released.

A group of Sikligar boys in Umarti going for a cricket match in the village located in Madhya Pradesh, infamously known as a hub of illegal pistols. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)

DCP Munde, a recipient of Shaurya Chakra for his participation in anti-Maoist operations, says their preparation for Umarti was rigorous. “We started the raid at 4 am, and carried arms, ammunition and bullet-proof jackets. A temporary wireless network was set up, and the men wore body cameras linked to a live-feed monitoring system in Pune. Drones were deployed for aerial surveillance.”

Police claimed to have destroyed 50 kilns used for moulding and production of weapons, at four illegal units. They seized country-made pistols, cartridges, magazines, over a hundred barrels, 14 grinding machines, 15 pistol bodies, a few sharp weapons and several firearm spare parts buried in the ground.

Members of the Sikligar community at the residence of Ramesh Tarole, a tribal and sarpanch of Umarti village, infamously known as a hub of illegal pistols. Express photographs by Arul Horizon.

Forty-seven people, all Sikligars, were detained. Barring 10, all were released later.

While the units were found to be rudimentary, working out of households, an officer said this was deceptive. A trained Sikligar could manufacture a pistol in two-three days in Umarti, said a source. Mostly, spare parts were kept ready, to be assembled into guns as per orders from customers.

Narayan Rawal, the in-charge of Warla Police Station under which Umarti falls, points out that the units are hard to crack as pistols are made from raw material “that is easily available in scrap and hardware shops”.

Madhya Pradesh Police is probing, however, if the Umarti gunmakers may now have links with inter-state racketeering, following the seizure of over a thousand gun barrels in the past few months. Police suspect that the dealers are tapping into high-quality material from Gujarat for sophisticated firearms.

Inspector Kaveri Kamlakar, who has been part of several operations in Umarti, says: “Not just desi kattas costing a few thousand rupees, we have recovered fine-quality pistols sold for up to Rs 1 lakh each. We also have information about cartridges being manufactured in Umarti.”

Kamlakar talks of “a strong support system in the village protecting those involved”. “In some cases, we found that the accused hired local tribals as couriers.”

IPS officer Krushikesh Rawale, who conducted a raid on Umarti during his Jalgaon posting between 2021 and 2023, says: “We found the Sikligar weapon dealers focused on supplying firearms to other states, as selling pistols locally invited police attention. Umarti weapons are being smuggled to states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.”

Officials say social media has helped the dealers expand their business. The Madhya Pradesh police held three men in May this year, who had allegedly come to Umarti to buy six guns after hearing about the village on social media.

Jalgaon SP Maheshwar Reddy says, “Our teams have recovered about 65 pistols this year and seized over 90 in 2024. All were made in Umarti.”

‘Don’t blame all’

Umarti sarpanch Ramesh Tarole, who belongs to the Barela tribe, says the activities of a few are giving them all a bad name.

Villagers proudly offer Umarti’s “success stories” instead – a Sikligar who is now an Indian Army Commando, a 12-year-old budding cricketer based in Mumbai.

Rajpal Singh Juneja, whose brother is in the Army, says: “Many are into farming, some have other businesses, nothing to do with firearms. It is wrong to blame all…”

A teacher, Nishan Singh Juneja, points to the fact that “over 200 Sikligar children study in English-medium schools”.

Umarti’s former deputy sarpanch Attarsingh Barnala says: “Our children do not want to join the weapons trade. My son did an MBA… Many Sikligars are below the poverty line, but they did not join the illegal weapons trade. We look for the government’s support to improve our situation.”

Equipment at an illegal firearms manufacturing unit from Umarti, seized by the Pune city police, during the November 22 raid. (Express photo by Chandan Haygunde).

Following the Pune Police raid, a delegation of the Umarti gram panchayat and Sikligar community members submitted a letter to the SP, Barwani police, saying: “Weapon making has been an ancestral work for Sikligars and we do not deny that some from the community are still into it. But most of the Sikligar families have quit weapon-making completely to join the mainstream.”

The letter went on to list professions ranging from the Army to grocery shops in which the Sikligars from Umarti are currently working.

Jagdish Dawar, the SP, Barwani police, says: “The delegation demanded that a committee be formed for specific actions only against those involved in firearms trade and their rehabilitation. We agree that innocents should not face any problems. We requested the Sikligar community to help us with information on weapon racketeers.”

Earlier, Dawar was part of ‘Operation 360’, an initiative to curb illegal firearms trade, under which activities like Rojgar Mela were held in Umarti in 2024. However, one villager says, “The initiative generated no employment for us. We sought minor loans for starting our business, but no banks came forward.”

Jayanti Singh, District Collector, Barwani, admits that while they are trying to wean the Sikligars away from their traditional profession, “success is limited”.