Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Man held on charge of illegal gun-making

Thiruvananthapuram: A month-long undercover operation by the rural police resulted, on Sunday, in the arrest of a 64-year-old man on the charge of making and selling firearms illegally.

The police identified the accused as Krishnan Asary, alias Thokku Mesary, of Nagarikunnu, Nedumangad.

The police said a team, led by Circle Inspector, Nedumangad, K. Mohammed Shafi, raided his workshop on Sunday and seized a .12-bore breech-loading handgun and three rounds of ammunition.

In April, Inspector-General of Police, Thiruvananthapuram Range, Arun Kumar Sinha received secret information that the accused was making and selling handguns. Binu, Assistant Sub-Inspector, approached Krishnan Asary posing as a spirit smuggler.

According to the police, Asary said he would make a handgun for Mr. Binu for Rs. 5,000. He said he wanted a month to complete the job. Mr. Binu gave him Rs.1,300 as advance. He visited him several times to assess the progress of the work.

Mr. Shafi said Asari had fashioned the metal cartridges used in the handgun from the stem of a folding-type umbrella. Each reusable-type cartridge fired a single lead ball. He said the handgun had a lethal range of 15 metres and did not require much time to reload.

The weapon had a sophisticated trigger mechanism. Its barrel was fashioned out of hard metal used for making the steering rod of vans. The pistol grip was fashioned out of buffalo horn and brass. The weapon was easy to conceal and carry.

The police suspect Asary to have supplied similar weapons to at least four persons, including a government official, recently.

The police said Asary made machetes and swords for criminal elements in the district. They said Asary had said that he had learned his trade from his father, the late Kunjan Asary, who had been twice arrested on similar charges. Asary repaired illegal muzzle and breech-loading weapons possessed by poachers in the district.

K. Mohan, Assistant Director, Forensic Sciences Laboratory, Ballistic Division, examined the weapon.

Asary was produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate-II, Nedumangad, and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

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