New Delhi: Politicians have a penchant for
foreign-made arms as over a 100 leaders procured such weapons,
confiscated by enforcement agencies, at throwaway prices in
last 10 years, the reply to an RTI query has revealed.
Among the politicians include Coal Minister Shriprakash
Jaiswal, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur,
Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi and former BJP MP
Vinod Khanna.
This information was given by the government in response
to an RTI application filed by social activist Ramesh Verma,
seeking details about MPs who had purchased confiscated
foreign-made fire arms.
According to the information provided, there is long
waiting list of leaders waiting to buy confiscated
foreign-made weapons as they are available at prices much
lesser than that of the international market.
These weapons are confiscated by DRI, Customs and police
and are meant to be used for use by government officials or
are given to personnel authorised by the Finance Ministry.
Due to the long waiting list of MPs for procuring such
weapons, the Finance Ministry allocates them on
first-come-first serve basis.
As per the government policy, the MPs have to give in
writing that at the time of purchasing, they should not have
any other weapon with them.
Kaur procured a .357 Magnum revolver for Rs 34,065 (which
costs Rs 56,700 in the international market), Vinod khanna
also bought a similar pistol for Rs 23,000, and Kumkum Rai bought
a colt pistol for Rs 58,000 (which costs Rs 1,36000 in foreign
markets.)
The government reply said Jaiswal had procured a 7.65mm
pistol worth Rs 1.3 lakhs, Janardan Dwivedi bought a .32 bore
S&W revolver for Rs 1.45 lakhs. Former SP MP Abu Azmi bought a
PPK pistol worth Rs 3 lakhs.
Only five women parliamentarians including Kaur along with
former MPs Prerna Kariappa, Sushri Devi and Sangeeta Kumari
Deo have purchased confiscated weapons, the reply states.
Some MPs with criminal records including Ateeq Ahmed,
Afzal Ansari and Mohammed Shahabuddin also benefited by this
government policy.
Ahmed procured a 30.06 mm rifle for Rs 3.15 lakhs
costing Rs 3.60 lakhs in the international market.
According to the reply, "In the last 10 years, 103 MPs
from Congress, BJP, BSP, INLD, AIADMK, BJD and PMK have
purchased confiscated illegal foreign-made fire arms."
PTI
