Sidhartha Gautam & Manmohan Gupta
CNN-IBN
Posted Thursday , June 07, 2007 at 08:26
New Delhi: How easy is it to procure an illegal weapon in the Capital? CNN-IBN Special Investigation Team found a few people ready to sell them a 9mm pistol, a lethal weapon that only the police is licensed to use.
The team met Raman, from Maujpur Gonda village, who says guns are easily available on the outskirts of Delhi.
"Aadmi maze mein chala deta hai lekin baad mein sazaa bhugatni padti hai peeche tak pure parivaar ko (One shoots from a gun thinking it is a joke but the family has to bear it all when things go wrong)," Raman says philosophically but then adds, "Kaan pe se nikal gayi thi agar lag jati to usse bachta nahin aadmi (It flies past the ear. It's hard to escape the bullet)."
CNN-IBN Special Investigation Team approached Raman as novice buyers. Following is the conversation and the events that unfolded to buy a pistol.
Raman: Aage padta hai Baadli gaon, wahan khet mien le jayenge firing karke dikhayenge. (At the fields in Baadli village we will fire the bullets as a demo).
CNN-IBN: Is the police aware of all this?
Raman: Police ko sab maloom rehta hai. Yahan scene aisa rehta hai... maine aadmi ped pe latke huye dekhein hain. (Police knows it all. The scene is such that I have seen bodies hanging from trees here.)
Then comes into the picture, Deepak who is Raman's partner in the racket and assures that a 9mm pistol will be easy to get.
Deepak: Pistol mil jayegi... 9 mm ki (You will get a pistol and that too 9 mm.)
CNN-IBN: How much will it cost us?
Deepak: Woh toh quality pe depend karta hai. (Well, that depends on the quality of the pistol.)
To talk money, Raman then took us to his boss, a petty gangster named Sotti.
Sotti: 9mm se badhiya koyi hathyaar nahi... Do lenge to 1 lakh 20 hazaar ki padegi.. ya 1 ki... quality ki baat hai (There is no weapon better than 9mm. Two will cost you between Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 1,20,000 depending on the quality.)
Soon we were shown the samaan (commodity) we wanted to buy - 9 mm pistol.
Deepak: Ek dum original 100 per cent kahin dhoka nahi dega. Mera guarantee hai warna aap wapas aasakte hain. Do din haath mein rakh ke fire karoge apne aap theek ho jayega (It is 100 per cent genuine and original. It won't betray you. It's my responsibility that you get a genuine piece. I am giving you guarantee or you can come back to me. Practice with it for two days and you will get used to it.
They even offer discount on bulk purchase.
Sotti: Main 5-7 hazaar kam karva doonga agar 2 'saman' loge. Police waalon ke paas yahi hai... 9 mm ka milega. (I will get you a discount of Rs 5,000-7,000 if you take two of them. Even the policemen use these pistols.)
The gang promises bullets as well.
CNN-IBN: Where can we get the bullets from?
Sotti: Hum denge daane tumhe. Daane mangva denge (We will get you the bullets. We will get them ordered.)
With no intention of buying guns, at this point we closed our investigation. For Rs 55,000 we could have illegally purchased a 9 mm gun. There are arms dealers around Delhi, ready to deliver such guns at your doorstep.
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If you all recall, Sidhartha is the same journalist who covered IFG on CNN-IBN last year... Coming back to the issue beign reported above - it is bloody appalling how easy (and cheap) it is for criminals to procure guns, while law abiding folk are put through so many hassles and expense before they are able to get to own a gun!
