LAHORE: Lytton Road police have arrested a man for openly firing into the air, recovering an illegal pistol and ammunition from his possession, as Lahore Police continue a crackdown on display of weapons and aerial firing under the supervision of the DIG Operations.
Police said the suspect, identified as Haider Ali, was arrested from ST Ground while he was firing into the air in public.
An unlicensed pistol and rounds of ammunition were recovered from him. A case has been registered and the suspect has been handed over to the Investigation Wing for further inquiry.
Aerial firing is treated in Punjab as a public safety offence rather than a nuisance, and for a measurable reason: a bullet fired vertically returns to the ground at a velocity capable of causing fatal injury. Falling rounds have killed and maimed bystanders in Lahore at weddings, election celebrations and New Year gatherings, frequently striking people some distance from the person who fired.
Because the shooter is rarely in view of the victim, such deaths are among the hardest homicides to trace. That difficulty is precisely why enforcement targets the act itself rather than waiting for consequences.
Celebratory and aerial firing is prohibited under the Punjab Arms Ordinance and related provincial legislation, with offences also arising under Section 336 and other provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code where injury results. Possession of an unlicensed firearm is separately punishable under the arms laws, which is why recovery of the weapon materially strengthens the case.
Punjab has periodically strengthened penalties for aerial firing, and provincial governments have on occasion attached the offence to preventive detention and licence-cancellation measures during high-risk periods such as Independence Day, election nights and Eid.
The arrest falls within a continuing citywide operation against show of weapons and aerial firing being run under DIG Operations Faisal Kamran. The same command has directed parallel drives against proclaimed offenders in Defence, against narcotics supply, and against the kite trade.
Lahore Police have also widened traffic and public-order enforcement in September, including a city-wide general hold-up operation against helmetless motorcyclists.
The enforcement push is running alongside the imposition of Section 144 across Punjab from 13 to 17 September, which independently bans the carrying and display of all kinds of weapons at public places for the duration of the order. (See accompanying report.)
The drive against weapons display connects directly to the district’s registered crime profile. Lahore has recorded 331 attempted murder cases this year alongside 194 murder cases, and firearms account for the majority of registrations in both categories. Police argue that removing unlicensed weapons from circulation before a dispute escalates is the most effective point of intervention.
The Investigation Wing will determine the source of the recovered pistol and whether the suspect has any prior record. The Lahore Times will report the outcome of the case.
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