Thiruvananthapuram: The police on Friday inspected licensed armouries across the State as part of a drive against unauthorised sale of weapons, particularly foreign made air guns and firearms.

The surprise inspection was ordered following the seizure of gas-powered rifles and pistols by the Customs officials from a warehouse in Kochi last week. The weapons were smuggled from Dubai in a shipment that was wrongly declared as "furniture items.'

According to the police, customs and forest officials, there was a niche market for foreign air guns in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The demand is mostly from businessmen who do not have firearm licence. High-powered air rifles, such as those seized in Kochi, are widely used by poachers to kill birds and small game. A section of rich youth also collect such weapons out of vanity. Often, certain licensed armouries acted as a front for the sale of imported air guns. In Tamil Nadu, some armouries openly displayed such contraband weapons, they said.

Air guns, including gas-powered weapons and those with rifled bore, could be freely imported into India till 2005 after paying a duty of 150 per cent of the original price. The smuggling of such weapons became a lucrative activity after the Government restricted the import of air guns in 2006. Only registered rifle clubs are authorised to import air guns, and that too of not more than 4.5 mm calibre (.177 inch).

A German air-pistol, which costs around Rs.10,000 in Dubai, fetches up to Rs.35,000 in the black market in Kerala. The Beretta gas-powered air-pistol that was seized in Kochi could continuously fire up to six lead pellets of 4.5 mm calibre. The weapon closely resembled the 9 mm automatic pistol of the same company, a member of the Kottayam Rifle club said. He said the weapons were potentially dangerous at close range.

Inspector General of Police, South Zone, Arun Kumar Sinha, said so far two licensed armouries in Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram have been sealed after it was found that the owners had not maintained proper stock and sale records.

In Idukki, three persons were arrested in connection with the seizure of a country-made firearm.

The police were investigating three persons, including one Muhammad Koya, in connection with the seizure of air guns by the Kochi Customs.

Mr. Sinha said the police were also probing whether seizure had any internal security implications for Kerala. The IG on Friday held discussions with two police officials from Dubai.

He said the Dubai police were whole-heartedly cooperating with the investigation.

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