| Weapons seized from militants can equip 3 army divisions | | Weapons seized in 25 years Ak-47 rifles: 30,752 Pistols: 11, 431 Grenades: 63000 Bullets: 45,00,000 RDX: 13 tons IEDs: 6000 | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Apr 23: The weapons seized by various security agencies from militants during the past twenty-five years are enough to equip two to three army divisions.
An army officer commenting on the issue said the quantity of arms and ammunition recovered by securityforces is enough to equip two to three army divisions with small weapons.
Figures with Jammu and Kashmir's Home Department say that security forces haveseized 30,752 AK-series assault rifles, 11,431 pistol and revolvers, 1,027 universal machine guns, 2,262 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 391 sniper rifles and hundreds of other weapons, including light machine guns and self-loading rifles.
The ammunition recovered includes more than 45,00,000 bullets and 63,000 grenades, besides 45,000 kg explosives. The weapons seized also included 2,262 rocket projectile guns, 2,830 rocket boosters, 70,071 AK magazines, 11,055 pistol magazines, 1321 UMG magazines, 150 LMG magazines, 31 carbine magazines and 32 telescopes, used on rifles for better aim.
The data further reveals that a massive quantity of ammunition for these weapons was also recovered during the counter-insurgency operations nearly 13 ton RDX, over 6,000 IEDs and nearly 70,000 detonators.
According to experts, a conventional army division has around 10,000 men and officers.
The seized weapons, therefore, would form the basic nucleus of weapons in two to three divisions and will meet their requirement of small arms, automatic weapons or anti-tank capability.
The seized weapons have been retained by the government. Most of the weapons have been allotted to police men. Some quarters have questioned allottment of weapons to the police. According to them, the seizewd weaponshave to be deposited in the court and destreoyed after the trial ends. However, the law authorizes the court in special cases, to entrust the seized weapons to an agency for forensic or other use but the authority to take any decision with regard to the seized property lies with the court and not with a bureaucrat. |
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