Govt cancels Arjuna awardee’s gun licences

Maharashtra’s Home department has cancelled 14 of the 15 weapon licences possessed by Arjuna awardee shooter Ashok Pandit. In an order dated May 28,  the Asian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist has been asked to submit the licences.

This follows a complaint filed by former police commissioner Gani Sheikh. “I suspected discrepancies in the way in which Pandit acquired the licences,” said Sheikh. “As per the Maharashtra Arms Act, his licences should be issued from the place of residence. In Pandit’s case, all his licences were issued from Dahanu, though he stays in Goregaon West,” he said.

Some from the shooting fraternity expressed surprise at the number of licences that Pandit had in his name.

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“This is a bizarre case where a single licence has been issued for different weapons to a single person,” said Sanjeev Bahl, the treasurer of the national shooting body.

Pandit, who is also the vice-president of National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), said, “I was never served a showcause notice. The order says that instead of 15 licences, I will now just have one licence. The wording of the letter is wrong.”