Unhindered sale of prohibited ammunition is going on cities near Lahore, especially in Gujranwala Division, which is then smuggled into the provincial metropolis, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Despite the ban on rifles, .44 bore, 7mm, 8mm, .222, .223, .303, AK47 are being sold openly in Gujranwala Division under the eyes of authorities where no dealer is authorised to sell prohibited-bore sale. Dealers with Non-Prohibited Bore licenses (NBP) are selling prohibited bore (PB) ammunition openly while illegal weapons are being imported from Darra Adam Khail and one is offered easy access to these weapons through ammunition dealers working in collaboration with corrupt elements in the ammunition branch.
No ammunition dealer has PB license:Requesting anonymity, an ammunition dealer told Pakistan Today no ammunition dealer in the Gujranwala Division had a NPB dealership. He said while the transfer of ammunition license was prohibited as per the constitution of Pakistan, 70 percent dealers had sub-contracted their business to Pashtuns. “To counter the legal provision, they show fake partnerships,” he said. He said Pashtuns are smuggling prohibited ammunition from Darra Adam Khail and are selling it without check. “Before a raid, ‘moles’ in the ammunition department inform them after which they return to their hometowns. In the meanwhile, a brother or relative carries the business on,” he said.
Smuggling arms under legal cover:
He said ammunition from the area was smuggled to other places under ‘legal cover’ in cahoots with corrupt officials in the Gujranwala ammunition branch. He said the ammunition was smuggled throughout Punjab, including Lahore, Sialkot, Sheikhupura and Narowal.
Opening up about how gun smuggling takes place, he said the freight charge from Darra to Gujr anwala for a rifle is Rs 3,500, for a pistol it is Rs 1,000. A non-prohibited bore rifle bullet costs Rs 4, a pistol bullet Rs 2 and a prohibited bore bullet costs Rs 5.
He said a contractor is given the cargo at Gujranwala By-Pass, after which he carries it inside Gujranwala or smuggles it to outstation points such as Lahore, Sialkot or elsewhere. He said ammunition is sold without entering data in their register to avoid checking. He added that most arms dealers don’t even have strong room, compulsory as per the constitution of Pakistan. “What is worse is the licenses of many dealers were cancelled but they were still operating due to links in the ammunition branch. He said most arms dealers had contracted their shops which was a serious offence bailable for a Rs 30,000 bond. He said most license owners had died or gone abroad while Pashtuns worked on their license by showing fake partnership deeds. He said, “While the license fixed the place, contractors shuffle location throughout the Gujranwala division and have extended their mafia to the whole region.”
He said arms dealers including Khawaja and Khawaja, Farooq Brothers, Aroop Ammunition dealer, Sufi arms dealers, Sardar traders amongst others were working in collaboration with corrupt officials in the ammunition branch.
Gujranwala District Coordination Officer (DCO) Nabeel Awan told Pakistan Today teams had raided several locations and cancelled the licenses of several arms dealers but it would take time to put a halt to this large mafia. He said the mafia had a huge network beyond the jurisdictional authority of a DCO and the support of Federal Government was necessity to end the trade.
