Gaya administration suspends MLC's arms licences

Patna/Gaya: The Bihar government on Friday further tightened the screws on MLC Manorama Devi with the Gaya district administration suspending her family's four firearms licences -- three given to her and one to husband Bindi Yadav -- even as the Delhi Police has said it would scrap the pistol licence given to their son Rocky.
Rocky, in his mid-20s, has been arrested for allegedly killing a teenager on May 7 with an Italy-made Beretta pistold for which he got the licence from Delhi.
While Bindi has been arrested for harbouring Rocky, Manorama is currently on the run. A ruling JD (U) MLC, she has since been suspended from the party. The MLC's licences are for a double-barrel gun, a rifle and a revolver. Bindi, once a dreaded don, was issued the rifle licence in 1991. He continued to remain "licensed" despite his detention under the Crime Control Act and arrest on sedition charges for supplying ammunition to outlawed Maoists.
According to Gaya DM Kumar Ravi, the couple has been given three days' time to explain why the licences should not be cancelled.
A Gaya official clarified Bindi was issued the rifle licence when he did not have any criminal case against him. Sources, however, said he was allowed to retain the licence even as the number of crime cases against him went up to nearly 20.
This despite the fact that the state authorities are supposed to review arms licences ahead of every assembly and parliamentaryelection. Meanwhile, a Delhi Police PRO in a media statement said Rocky's pistol licence would be cancelled if the Bihar Police sent a reportagainst him. When contacted, DGP P K Thakur said Bihar officers were already in touch with their Delhi counterparts and required reports would be sent to them for the cancellation of Rocky's licence.