Shankar Prasad Koirala, Joint-secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, said, “We have requested illegal weapons holders to submit the weapons to the District Administration Office (DAO), District Police Office or the nearest police station, within the deadline.” [break]
The cabinet on 27th February had decided to provide the public an opportunity to submit illegally held weapons.
The government has so far issued around 35,000 licenses to individuals for keeping firearms for personal use. Though the authorities don´t have proper records on such weapons, they have now begun maintaining the records along with the renewal of licenses provided, said Chief District Officer (CDO) of Kathmandu, Chudamani Sharma.
Kathmandu District Administration Office alone has records of more than 1,500 weapons as of last week, but with the latest notice on submission of weapons they are expecting some more weapons to be registered, he added.
This will probably be the last opportunity for the illegal weapons holders, CDO Sharma warned. If someone is found in possession of such a weapon after the deadline, the individual will be slapped a five-year jail term, fined Rs 100,000 or both, according to the Home Ministry.
According to the Ministry, many people are not familiar with the legal procedures for submitting weapons or registering weapons to be keep legally.
The government begun a campaign to collect illegally possed weapons in order to maintain peace and security in the country, an official said.
But because of lack of coordination among the authorities, the issue of arms management has become a headache for the government, he said.
Last September, the Supreme Court had directed the government to put in place a mechanism for the management of small arms.
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