Tk 2 lakh income tax to be required for getting arms licence

Govt step on way to check criminal use of legal arms
Persons who are entitled to possession and renewal of arms licences will be required to pay at least Tk 2 lakh income tax annually and they have to show income tax certification for the previous three years, according to the new system the government is mulling to introduce soon.
The system is aimed at stopping illegal use of legal arms in the country, said  Home Ministry sources yesterday.
Thee ministry is going to issue a circular about the system in a short time and it will be sent to the deputy commissioners (DCs) for taking further action, sources added.
A high official at the Home Ministry yesterday told The Independent on condition of anonymity that the ministry has already prepared a draft to introduce the new system relating to issuance and renewal of arms licenses.
“A person at least 25 years old can apply to the deputy commissioner concerned for getting an arms licence or renewing his arms now,” he said.
“Police verification report will be mandatory to get an arms licence and have one’s license renewed from now on,” he added.
For getting an arms licence, an individual is required to apply to the concerned DC office, according to the existing Arms Act 1878.
Sources said, more than 25,000 out of 1,30,000 licensed arms in the country are being used in various illegal activities and arms with licences are also rented to criminals.
The Home Ministry has asked the deputy commissioners to send lists of arms licences to it soon to ascertain how many licenses were issued by the DC offices from January 1991 to January 2009.
Only 38 DCs have sent lists of the licences to the Home Ministry, it was leant.
It may be mentioned that locally made firearms are seized by the law enforcing agencies at regular intervals. Clandestine arms-making workshops were also detected by them from time to time at different places of the country resulting in the seizure of sawn-off rifles, revolvers and pipe-guns, along with bullets and cartridges.
A research report by Bangladesh Development Partnership Centre (BDPC) said the country’s south and south-eastern regions, especially Chittagong, Khagrachhari, Bandarban, Sandwip and northern Haluaghat and the emerging river islands are often used for transportation of illegal small arms. This supply encourages the use of illegal small arms and spurs violence across the country, it adds.
 
Courtesy of The Independent