The Centre is planning to allow private security agencies to buy weapons “directly” to equip their guards deployed at sensitive locations.
The Union home ministry has decided to change the rules to enable them get “bulk licences” to purchase non-prohibited bore weapons.
The private security agencies will be required to set up armouries within their premises where weapons can be stored. This will not only help end these agencies’ dependence on individual licence holders to carry out duties but also bring in safeguards in issuance and storage of weapons, which is now lacking. A formal decision is expected shortly.
The move to update the Arms Act 1959 and also equip private security guards with sophisticated weapons gained momentum after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The home ministry has also been concerned over individuals getting fake arms licences in various parts of the country, and many of them later pitching for jobs as private security guards in the absence of a proper verification system.
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Cong to Joshi: Quit for partisan 2G role
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
Aug. 7: The Congress and the BJP are set to enter into a fierce duel again on the controversial Public Accounts Committee’s report on 2G spectrum allocation scam. The Congress demanded that senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi resign as PAC chairman for recirculating his old report, saying he was making the committee “partisan and motivated” and was “playing politics” with a report that was “rejected”.