Lok Sabha polls: Firearms banned in B'luru

Bengaluru: Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar on Tuesday passed an order directing the licensed gun and firearms holders to deposit their weapons in the nearest police stations at the earliest.

With the model code of conduct in place for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on April 18 and 23, the issuance of licenses for firearms and their possession have been banned in Bengaluru.

Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar has passed an order, in which he has mentioned that all the firearms of license holders in Bengaluru should be deposited with the jurisdictional police station, the ban will be in force till May 27, after the end of vote count on May 23.

However, the State and the Central government departments, public and private sector agencies to whom firearms were issued for security, sportsmen who are part of the National Rifle Association and communities entitled to display weapons by longstanding law and custom, are exempted from the ban.

The Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka will be held in two phases – on April 18 for 14 seats and on April 23 for another 14 seats.