Illegal Gun Smuggling Threatens to Ruin Hyderabad Peace

Hyderabad: There is a high demand for illegal firearms in the city and illegal and countrymade guns and pistols of all calibres are being smuggled in, according to illegal firearm dealers.

Vishal Sahu, a native of Chotti Manjhgain in Bihar, who has a illegal firearms network throughout the county, said that to avoid the risk of transporting, they instead train locals from other places in the manufacturing process.

“There are well-knit underground centres in remote places organised by illegal firearm manufacturers, sellers and smugglers from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. We are involved in training migrants and locals to manufacture firearms in the remote places of city,” Sahu said.

Srivastav alias Sri, an aide of Sahu, who works with the intelligence in Madhya Pradesh, said that illegal firearms were manufactured in nine villages of MP and smuggled via Sendhwa, Gujarat and MP borders to Hyderabad, Kerala, Chennai

Officials said that in the recent past, crimes that earlier saw the use of knives and daggers are now being done with illegal firearms.

On average, 85,000 people from other states travel to Hyderabad through multiple modes for an array of reasons, including smuggling. “During weekends, over 1.4 lakh passengers depart and arrive at Kacheguda, Secunderabad and Nampally railway stations. We have deployed our intelligence officers not only on the trains and platforms but also on the parcel section,” a railway police officer said.

A senior police officer with the Special Branch Intelligence said that special anti-sabotage teams had been deployed to deal with firearm smuggling and other contraband.

Niranjan Sahu, a Bihar native who works as a private security person in the city, said that most people who do not get an arms licence due to various reasons opt for illegal firearms that are available in Bihar for Rs 20,000-Rs 80,000.

“In Bihar and UP, there are no restrictions and no questions asked. Illegal firearm manufacturers do not even see the buyers’ faces or even ask about their particulars. They only ask ‘kitne round ka hona aap ke budget ke anusar hamara pass katta hai (how many rounds do you need and what is your budget?)’,” Niranjan Sahu said.

An armoury shop owner said that due to mushrooming demand in the city, dealers use an array of methods to smuggle improvised firearms. “Hyderabad is also developing a gun culture like in the US. Growing gun culture, however, poses a major threat to peace,” the person said.

A retired police officer said: “Illegal firearms that are very easily available to a common man, that too at a reasonable rate smuggled from Bihar and MP, are giving sleepless nights to our state police.”

Gun violence in Hyderabad

Aug. 23: Devendernath Gayen, 35, hotel general manager, was shot dead by his rival with a countrymade gun in Miyapur

April 6: Akash Singh, a petrol pump employee, shot dead by rivals in Karvan of Tappachabutra using a countrymade gun procured from Bihar.

Dec. 1, 2022: Two robbers struck at Mahadev Jewellers in Snehapuri of LB Nagar, shot at two persons, with a 7.65-calibre countrymade firearm, and made off with 2 kg gold and Rs 1.77 lakh.

Ground situation

850 illegal weapon manufacturers located in 18 villages of Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh

Smuggled goods reaching Hyderabad mostly come from Sendhwa of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat border

Bihar-make firearms are the most popular due to increasing quality to match original ones over the past two years.