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| Monday, 16 February 2004 |
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Easy availability of arms a factor in crime: How the police curb Lanka's small arms cancer by Chandani Jayatilleke A man seated in the Magistrate's Court witnessing a case involving an underworld gang leader, leaps as court proceedings are on, pulls out a pistol from his socks and shoots the victim dead. The killer was identified as an army deserter. Few weeks after this incident, a gunman escapes, having killed a person bailed out from court, at Darley Road in Colombo, in broad daylight. Again the gunman was identified as a deserter. A couple of months ago, three children of a rural family died in a hand grenade explosion while playing in their garden. It was reported that the grenade had been hidden in the children's playing area by an army deserter.
These were some of the recent incidents which triggered waves of fear and horror among peace-loving people of this country. What do these incidents indicate? Are they part of the gun culture this country has gone through for nearly two decades? Don't they give an indication that handguns and other small arms are still available in society, despite great efforts Police have made to nab the culprits. Handguns and other small arms are becoming a direct threat to many people around the world as the day-to-day violence is carried out with small weapons. UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan recently stressed this point in a meeting on disarmament matters, saying that although weapons of mass destruction grab headlines, many people see handguns and other small arms as a far greater threat to their safety. In Sri Lanka, the illegal use of handguns and small arms has created a devastating impact on society.
The availability of such arms is a matter to be addressed by the authorities concerned. Though there are strict rules to seize such arms, there seems to be a well-established network which is discreetly distributing arms throughout the island. Police have also arrested several persons who had been making arms such as 'Gal Katas' in some areas in the Southern Province recently. But, Police believe that there may be more people in the business, selling 'Gal Katas' to underworld gangs. However, the free flow of handguns and other small arms came into effect following the eruption of the North East war, says Jayantha Wickramaratne, DIG (Crimes, Intelligence, Organised Crimes and Narcotics). "We had to train a large number of police and service personnel to handle firearms during the war. Apart from them we also have optional forces, home guards and security assistants and private security persons who have been permitted to carry weapons and provide security to various companies. Because of this situation, we have a new set of people who have been trained to handle firearms, specially the sophisticated automatic weapons such as shot guns," he says. There have been instances where people deserted the army and joined underworld gangs, some armed with small guns. This was how the gun culture was created. In a war situation it is difficult to have strict control over use of firearms. On some occasions, from the war zones, people came with their weapons, rifles, revolvers, grenades from security establishments, and sold them. There are a lot of deserted personnel from the forces who sell their weapons to various underworld gangs. Underworld criminals also made use of this opportunity and employed some of the deserters to use their skills to do contract killings. Then a new gun culture came into the country, DIG Wickremeratne said. That's how underworld criminals got the assistance of deserters to kill people. However, he said, there have not been arms smuggling cases in the recent past except in the North and East. In the early days, people used shot guns to murder. They had locally manufactured Gal Katas. Following the war, most of them got a taste of automatic guns which are now being used. Talking about recent crimes in the country, DIG Wickramaratne said Police have found out that army deserters are involved in most of the crimes taking place in the country. A large number of bank robberies in 2002 and 2003 had been carried out by those who deserted armed forces. They have arms, discreetly taken from their working places, so that they can easily take to contract killings and bank robberies, which they think is an easy way to make money. Police have launched a massive program to round up deserters from the security forces. "But what happens after being rounded up is that they are being deployed for duties or given punishment transfers. This gives them an opportunity to commit the same crime again. We have come across persons who have deserted the army more than 10 times." Asked what action is being taken against illegal arm holders he said, they are produced at the Magistrate's Court and remanded, pending further investigation. "We have to get a report from a qualified person to find out the type of weapon - It is compulsory to get some kind of certification. If it is a grenade, of course, we have army experts and in the case of firearms we get police experts. If it is a complicated case, we will direct it to the Government Analyst and a case will be filed under the Offensive Weapons Act. Under this Act we can produce people who are carrying automatic weapons, before courts." The present punishment system includes a mere fine of Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 for a normal weapon. DIG Wickramaratne however, admitted the present laws are not sufficient to crackdown on small arms dealings. "We have proposed to amend the Fire Arms ordinance and to include deterrent punishment in consultation with the AG's Department. It is under correspondence at the moment. The amendment procedure is cumbersome and takes much time. Police have also introduced a promotion and a rewards scheme to encourage people and police officers to nab arms dealers and persons who sell illegal arms. Rewards given to persons range from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 30,000. Depending on the importance of the case, the reward could go up to one lakh of rupees. For Police officers, a promotion scheme is in effect. "We will be launching an islandwide poster campaign to educate people on the danger of dealing with arms, in all three languages, shortly. We hope this will help capture many others dealing with small arms," he said. In 2001, there had been 46,913 crimes and robberies, 48,539 in 2002 and 2003 (first nine months) 38,894. Murder cases reported in 2001 were 1,580, 2002 - 1,304 and 2003 (first nine months) - 982. Police have also identified that 90% of crimes and robberies take place in the Western Province. "Overall we believe that the crime and murder rate is decreasing gradually, going by the past figures. We have also deployed additional manpower to mitigate the situation in the Western Province with three DIGs appointed for the task in the WP alone." He reiterated that Police need the cooperation of people. "We assure we would safeguard their identity. We need State patronage too." |
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