Fake arms licences, illegal firearms and unauthorised sale of ammunition – these have been pegged by the Bihar Police as the primary reason for rising violent crimes in the state in the last 10 years, with the department now looking to plug the hole.
In a study analysing decadal data from the State Crime Records Bureau between 2015 and 2024, the Bihar Police has directly correlated the rise of violent crimes in the state – defined as offences such as murder, kidnapping for ransom, dacoity, robbery, bank heists and road dacoity – to the growing sale of illegal arms and ammunition in the state.
The study, called ‘Dynamics of circulation and trade networks of illegal firearms and ammunition: A Bihar perspective’, was submitted to Bihar’s Director General of Police Vinay Kumar last week. This comes at a time when Bihar is gearing for assembly polls.
Significantly, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Bihar has consistently been ranking among the state’s top five states in terms of violent crimes between 2017 and 2022 year.
The study shows that at 82 incidents/year, Patna leads in violent crimes in the state. Districts such as Motihari (49.53), Saran (44.08), Gaya (43.50), Muzaffarpur (39.93) and Vaishali (37.90) follow. Seven of the top 10 districts with highest number of violent crimes – Patna, Motihari, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur, Nalanda, and Begusarai – are also in the top 10 districts in which most Arms Act cases, indicating a close correlation between that and the prevalence of illegal firearms.
Rattled by these findings, the Special Task Force has recommended that the Bihar DGP cut down individual ammunition quota from the current 200 to minium the DGP office considers to those with arms licences, cancel licences of “people incapable of using firearms”, monitor licenced minigun factories and review arms licences issued by Nagaland and and Kashmir governments.
Significantly, the Central Bureau of Investigation is probing alleged irregularities in granting over 2.74 lakh gun licences between 2012 and 2016 in J&K when it was still a state. Meanwhile, Police are reportedly investigating allegations of fake weapon licences being issued in Dimapur, Nagaland.
Here’s what the study shows:
* Three major channels of arms and ammunition trade are the locally manufactured illegal firearms from minigun factories, illegally-obtained ammunition and illegally secured licenced firearms.
* An analysis of SCRB’s decadal data from 2015 to 2024 shows that an average of 2,913 cases of Arms Act involve the recovery of illegal firearms/ ammunition. The average annual recovery is 3,628 for illegal firearms and 17,239 for illegal ammunition. “These illegal firearms are being used for committing violent crimes such as murder, kidnapping for ransom, dacoity, robbery, bank dacoity, road dacoity,” the study said.
* Patna leads in the registration of Arms Act cases with an annual average of 321.7 cases/year followed by Begusarai (167.7), Muzaffarpur (158.3), Nalanda (117.9) and Vaishali (117.8).
* Over the last 10 years, the number of recovered country-made firearms has more than doubled to 4,981 in 2024 from 2,356 in 2015. District-wise data on the recovery of illegal country-made firearms shows that Patna tops the list with 384.4 recovered firearms/year – much ahead of Munger, which comes in a distant second at 222.3/year.
* Over the last 10 years, the number of recovered ammunition/ cartridges has gone up from 9,449 in 2015 to 23,451 in 2024, with the highest recovery made in 2023 (31,691). District-wise data on recovered illegal ammunition/ cartridges shows that Aurangabad leads the list, followed by Patna, and Gaya. However, neither Aurangabad nor Gaya – both impacted by the Maoist movement – find a place in the 10 districts with the highest illegal firearm recoveries.
* There is a discrepancy in SCRB data for districts and the National Database of Arms Licenses-Arms License Issuance System (NDAL-ALIS) – a portal developed by the Ministry of Home Affairs to streamline the process of applying for arms licences — in at least over a dozen districts, including Bhojpur, Rohtas, Siwan, Sarab, East Champaran, Gopalganj, West Champaran, Vaishali, Buxar, and Kaimur of districts. There were also discrepancies in data for licenced arms dealers. For example, NDAL-ALIS data showed that Munger had nine arms dealers whereas the district data said there were 40 arms dealers.
* The annual number of illegal minigun factories has gone up significantly, standing at 70 in 2023 from as low as 13 in 2018. In general, the number of such minigun factories has been rising since 2018, with a slight dip being recorded in 2021 (32 minigun factories) before going back to 64 minigun factories in 2024. Munger tops the list of such factories, having an average of 18.1 minigun factories – far ahead of Nalanda (2.9), Khagaria (2.3), Patna (2.1) and Bhagalpur (1.4). As previously reported, Munger allegedly has several illegal assembling units for country-made firearms.
*Districts with the highest recoveries of firearms and ammunition also report higher incidences of violent crimes. This includes districts such as Patna, Begusarai, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Saharsa, and Bhagalpur —all of which are commonly seen as some of the most crime-affected regions in the state.
*While both Gaya and Aurangabad consistently feature among the top five districts in terms of recovery of illegal firearms/ammunition, they do not appear in the list of top 10 districts with the highest number of Arms Act cases registered. Likewise, while Munger has the highest number of illegal minigun factories and also saw a highest recovery of illegal ammunition, it does not feature in the list of 10 districts with the highest number of Arms Act cases registered.
The study shows a pattern of organised and systematic misuse of forged documents for illegal procurement of firearms and ammunition/ cartridges, Additional Director General of Police (headquarters) Kundan Krishnan told The Indian Express.
“Our findings also suggested forgery of licences and identity cards of genuine licence holders. Arms are being fraudulently procured from licenced dealers in other states such as Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, J&K, and Nagaland, using forged licences and identity documents, indicating a wider interstate network,” he said.
There is ample evidence to show that licenced gun shops are actively involved in duplicating deposited firearms and illegally selling the original weapons while maintaining fake or duplicate copies in their inventory, he said.
“The STF had recommended corrective steps that include revocation of arms licence and surrender of arms if the licencee becomes incapable of possessing firearms, mandatory certification of licences issued from other states, specially from Nagaland and J&K,” he said.
