Patna: Licensed firearm owners in the Bankipur assembly constituency have been left confused after receiving verbal instructions from local police stations to deposit their weapons ahead of the upcoming bypolls. While verification of licensed firearms is a routine exercise before elections, residents said they had never before been asked to surrender their weapons altogether.According to local sources, calls from police stations over the past few days have triggered concern among licence holders. In previous elections, owners were required only to bring their firearms to police stations for verification of serial numbers and documents before taking them back home.Legal experts and residents argued that the verbal directives run contrary to several high court and Supreme Court rulings, which make it clear that the administration cannot issue blanket orders requiring people to surrender licensed firearms without serving individual written notices.“The state cannot compel a person to deposit their arms without an individual communication or notice that clearly outlines the specific reasons why such a deposit is essential for public safety,” a legal expert said.The administration can seek the deposit of firearms under the Arms Act, 1959, or the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), but only under specific circumstances. These include cases where the licence holder has a criminal record, is out on bail, is found violating prohibitory orders such as Section 163 of the BNSS, or where authorities have reasons to believe possession of the weapon could affect free and fair elections.A resident of the Bankipur constituency said he was asked to deposit his weapon after completing the verification process at Pirbahore police station.“Just after the verification at Pirbahore PS, I was told to deposit my arms. When I asked for any written order or notification, the cops failed to do so, following which I did not deposit,” he said.Another resident said he had received a similar call from the same police station. “I asked if the district magistrate had given an order, I did not get concrete reply. This had happened for the first time and I was surprised,” he added.A businessman living in the Kadamkuan police station area also claimed that he had received a similar call without any formal notice.Pirbahore additional SHO Madhurendra confirmed that licensed firearm owners were being asked to deposit their weapons ahead of the bypolls. “They can write a letter, or deposit their arms at the thana or at the gun shop and give us the receipt,” he said.Asked under whose instructions the exercise was being carried out, he said, “We have got instruction from the top. There is no such notification in public.”Patna DM Kundan Kumar declined to comment and referred queries to the SSP.
