Meerut: The Epicenter of Kattabazaari

While Bihar’s Munger region has long been known for manufacture of illegal guns, over the last few years the trade has slowly shifted to UP’s Meerut area which brings the hub of illegal firearms manufacturing closer to the national capital.

Introduction

Meerut is an ancient city that dates back to the Indus valley civilization. This city is from western U.P. and is known for its unique mixture of traditional and modern industries including handloom. It is also known for the number of crime lords and politicians that it has birthed into our system. After playing a tiny role in the illegal gun manufacturing racket for many years, Meerut has now turned out to be the epicentre for all things illegal.

Also Read: As illegal arms units sprout across district, Meerut turns into the new Munger

Illegal Manufacturing

While Bihar’s Munger region has long been known for manufacture of illegal guns, over the last few years the trade has slowly shifted to UP’s Meerut area due to sustained police crackdown in Munger. This brings the hub of illegal firearms manufacturing closer to the national capital. In fact, such is the illegal gun problem in the country that in more than 90% of homicides committed using guns, illegal firearms are involved. These arms manufactured in the western UP (like Meerut), cater to the demand of these weapons in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP and as far as Nepal.

Also Read: From ''kattas'' to Berettas, who is running guns into Delhi?

Subsequently, due to the current lockdown that prevailed over our country, a sharp dip in criminal activities has taken a toll on UP’s illegal arms manufacturing trade rendering the underground factories almost defunct and the criminals it hired jobless. The remarkable drop is because of two reasons: Better policing and Covid-19 lockdown. But there lies a challenge for the future.

U.P.'s love for firearms goes beyond the 12.77 lakh people authorised to carry weapons - putting it on the top of states with gun licences. UP police has revealed that a whopping 17327 country made pistols are produced along with 31,926 factory-made bullets between in 2020. In all, 199 manufacturing units prevail all over the state.

Conclusion

Now people are coming out as lockdown is easing. With it, there is a spurt in the manufacturing of illegal arms. Now, all we can keep in mind is that as soon as things get back to normal, Delhi is not far away to get entrapped in this viscous cycle of illegal manufacturing and consumption. This, eventually, will make it even harder to reduce the number of mafia gangs and crime lords from penetrating through and expanding!