Bal Bharati Incident: Use Of Prohibited Bore Arms Suspected

Scrutiny of the X-ray report of Angad Chhabra's thoracic region is reported to have helped the police to zero in on the likely calibre of the bullet.

According to the preliminary examination of the report, allegedly by a arms dealer, whose expertise was sought by the investigating officials, the bullet may have been of a .38 bore size.

"The police came this morning and compared a bullet they brought along with the X-ray report. They then told us that the possibility of this bore was strong," said Inderjit Kaur, Angad's mother.

Assuming the assessment is correct, it means the weapon used for the gunshot was of a "prohibited bore" variety, the kind used only by police and the Army.

 

While issuing licenses, the police categorises weapons into prohibited and non-prohibited variety, depending on the firepower and strike range of the weapon. All powerful weapons are scheduled under the prohibited bore category. Licenses for these prohibited bore weapons are issued by directly by the Ministry of Home Affairs, with Delhi Police not having much of a role in it.

However, these weapons are available in the open market and are reportedly routinely purchased by criminal elements.

Most of these weapons are small range, pistols and revolvers that have an effective range of 30 yards. Rifles and long range guns do not use this calibre, but carbines may sometimes use such bullets.

Commenting on the initial examination, a senior police official said, "It is very difficult to arrive at the calibre of the bullet by mere examination of the X-ray. The dimension and weight have to be taken into consideration and the X-ray does not reveal this aspect correctly."

Based on sketchy details, the police made a second visit to the scene of the incident this afternoon to assess the available possibilities. "A ballistic expert, going by the calibre of the bullet, can decipher the possible range from where the bullet was fired," said the officer.