Allahabad, May 22: The Allahabad High Court has requested comprehensive details regarding arms licenses issued to individuals with criminal backgrounds. The court has specifically sought information on licenses granted to 19 individuals, including prominent figures such as Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, Raja Bhaiya, Dhananjay Singh, Sushil Singh, and Vineet Singh.
Justice Vinod Diwakar of the High Court has directed the state government and police officials from all districts to provide detailed responses concerning the misuse of arms licenses, the issuance of licenses to individuals with criminal records, and the public display of weapons. The court has also demanded accurate addresses of all license holders with criminal backgrounds, along with details of their criminal cases and security information related to their licenses.
This order was issued in response to a petition filed by Jaisankar, a resident of Sant Kabir Nagar. The High Court expressed deep concern over the culture of firearms and requested the government to provide complete information regarding the issuance, renewal, and regulation of arms licenses.
Previously, the state government informed the High Court that there are over one million arms licenses in Uttar Pradesh, with 6,062 licenses issued to individuals who have two or more criminal cases against them. This revelation surprised the court, which has also requested the criminal records of those individuals whose names were concealed in government affidavits. Additionally, the court has sought a complete account of the government security provided to these individuals.
According to an affidavit submitted by the Additional Chief Secretary of Home, there are a total of 1,008,393 arms license holders in the state, with 23,407 licenses currently pending. Among these, 6,062 individuals have two or more criminal cases registered against them. Furthermore, 20,960 families possess more than one arms license.
The court has demanded detailed information on individuals including Raja Bhaiya, Abbas Ansari, Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, Dhananjay Singh, Vineet Singh, Brijesh Singh, Khan Mubarak, Ajay Pratap Singh alias Ajay Sipahi, Sanjay Singh Singla, Atul Verma, Mohammad Sahab, Sudhakar Singh, Guddu Singh, Anup Singh, Lallu Yadav, Bachchu Yadav, and Jugnu Walia.