SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, May 4: Independent MLA Saryu Roy today said that he will move the Jharkhand government seeking action against Health Minister Banna Gupta for possessing Glock pistol that is banned in India.
Roy told Lagatar24.com that he had informed the Jamshedpur deputy commissioner on April 28 that the minister was possessing a banned weapon. “But the DC has not acted on it at all,” he pointed out.
He pointed out that somebody told him today that the said weapon has not even been entered in the register of the Kadma police station.
“Even if the minister gets the benefit of doubt that he was unknowingly keeping the banned arms, but now when the issue was brought to the notice of the district administration, he should have immediately surrendered to the police or the arms magistrate,” Roy, who represents Jamshedpur (East) constituency.
“But surprisingly, neither he has surrendered it nor the DC has bothered to take action against the minister for possessing an illegal weapon. So, he is liable to be booked under Section 7 of the Arms Act and punished for seven years under Section 25 of the Act,” he pointed out.
Roy had also brought the whole issue to the notice of Governor C P Radhakrishnan on may 2 and demanded him to sack the minister.
The MLA, who had defeated then sitting Chief Minister Raghubar Das in 2019, demanded that Gupta should be immediately booked if there is rule of law in the State.
“I understand that the district administration is under great pressure not to act against the minister. So, he has no option but to knock the high court’s door for waking up the district administration and ensure that the rule of law prevails in the State, particularly in Jamshedpur,” he maintained.
Banna Gupta, who is a Congress MLA and represents Jamshedpur (west) Assembly constituency could not be contacted for his comments. The JMM is running the government with the support of the Congress in Jharkhand.
Roy said that the police are also sitting over a probe into the sex video clip involving the minister. The video had gone viral a few days back. Gupta had later claimed that the video was fake and was doctored to malign his image. He was also ready to face investigation in the case.
The MLA said that he was surprised to find that Banna Gupta, in his defamation notice, sent to him yesterday was silent on the sex video clip issue. The minister focussed on the banned weapon issue only, he added.
Notably, the polymer-framed, short-coiled operated, lock-breech semi-automatic G44 is designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges m.b.h.
It is an amazingly light-weight pistol and has an effective firing range of 50 meters.
Though originally produced in Austria, the Glock Ges m.b.h eventually started manufacturing this handgun in as many as 70 countries, including India.
In India, G44 was being produced in Chennai after a tie up with the Tamil Nadu government since March 2021.
Initially, the G44 pistols were available in gun stores for sale, but following a decision by the Union Home Ministry, the sale of these firearms was declared as prohibited for the civilians through a notification made on January 27, 2023.
Not only was the pistol in question prohibited in the public domain, but the Union Home Ministry had also directed the administration of all the states and Union Territories to make the owners of this gun to submit either in the state armoury or with the local police station, the reason behind the move behind being it should be used by the military or police department only.
