KOCHI: In a bid to trace the person who discarded a pistol and five bullets in a trolley at Lulu Mall in April, police have approached the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to dig into details of arms licence holders in the country after ballistic experts identified the serial number of the pistol. Though police are optimistic about tracing the persons who were in possession of this particular weapon, they are also weighing upon another possibility that the weapon might be illegal resulting in no official records.
The National Database of Arms Licences System under MHA has the details of arms licence holders and the type of weapons in their possession. As the pistol is of Chinese-made model of 9mm calibre Russian pistol Norinco Tokarev, police have received an input from experts that the pistol might be illegal.
“We are verifying whether this Chinese weapon is banned in India or not,” an officer said adding that the ballistic report also confirmed that the pistol was not in working condition because of a mechanical jam. Kalamassery Police Station Inspector (SHO) Babu Sebastian, who is leading the probe, said they were in the process of tracking the pistol with the help of serial number.