J&K border dwellers demand licences for firearms

Residents of border villages who live under the constant threat of firing by Pakistani troops and militant attacks have demanded that the Jammu and Kashmir government grant them licences to keep firearms, police today said.
They said they needed weapons to defend themselves in the event of a militant attack.
At a meeting of police and border dwellers in Samba, the residents of the border belt demanded they be given licences to protect themselves from ultras, a police spokesperson said.
The meeting was convened in the wake of recent ceasefire violations by Pakistan that forced villagers to seek shelter in safer places.

The meeting, chaired by SSP Samba Anil Magotra at the Rajpura police station, saw the participation of a number of border dwellers and the heads of several villages.
The villagers rued they were not enough bullet-proof vehicles for their evacuation to safer places during ceasefire violations, the police spokesperson said.
Also, more ambulances with all life-support systems needed to be added to the existing fleet, they said.
The SSP told the villagers he would raise the matter at the appropriate level.