Business of killer weapons flourishing in city through secret codes based on birds, animals and daily household items
The Mumbai Police have in 2015 seized as many as 251 illegal firearms including imported and good quality guns, country made pistols and live rounds. With seizure and arrests of the people found in possession of the killer weapons, there have been shocking revelations which have made the police officials who have to be alert enough to decode the secrets of trade and names of firearms being sold with code names by the gun dealers.
A Crime Branch official, not wishing to be named said, “Those in the business of dealing in guns use code words to evade legal action and dodge the agencies. The desired weapons by criminals reach them by contacting the right person who informs the traders, mainly based in other states of the country via phone calls ever doubting the interception of the call by security forces which can effectively lead to their arrest. Hence they use code words to specify a weapon.”
“There are around 10 codes which we have come across until now and we suspect there could be more than 30 codes being used by the gun traders. In an interrogation of an accused, we found that a country made weapon, desi katta is commonly called a 'katta' but to evade legal action the dealers in the illegal business have coded the kattas depending on its quality, size and even colour. The codes include mainly the names of common birds and daily household used items. The kattas are now called kawwa (crow), tota or popat (parrot) and chana (chickpeas) apart from the commonly used word in the underworld for a firearm – ghoda (horse). A rifle is called 'jhadu' and a sten gun – 'file'.”
According to investigators, the dealers of illegal firearms have coded the names of the guns which even have an explanation and reason to choose a particular name, “It is called kawwa because most guns are black in colour and creates a sound each time it is fired, whereas calling it a parrot means the desi katta could even backfire as when a parrot is caught, it bites. Similarly, small katta which can be hidden in pockets are called chana as they are small in size. A rifle is called jhadu because it’s long and sten gun is called file because it can load several cartridges at once and the bullets are called 'dana' ,” said an officer.
However, according to the city police records, in 2015 the cops seized 251 fire arms and 706 live cartridges.
The country made weapons are used by local criminals in crimes including abducting, threatening and extortion cases. While firing from the kattas, one cannot be 100 per cent sure if it would hit a target like the original good quality weapons.
Investigations in a few cases have evealed that there are dealers for desi kattas who are generally camouflaged in the city and other states of the country. They contact the suppliers and are paid commission for the deals. The smuggled guns and bullets have a value from thousands to lakhs of rupees depending on the quality of the weapons. A desi katta could be sold for Rs.35,000-40,000 whereas a good quality imported weapon is black marketed in lakhs.
CODES DECODED...
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Kawwa – Black color gun
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Tota or Popat – low cost weapon
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Chana – Country-made pistol
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Jhadu – Rifle
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Ghoda – Pistol
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File – Sten gun
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Dana -- Live cartridges
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Game -- To kill