Bengaluru, Sep 9: The 7.65 mm country-made pistol which was used to kill journalist Gauri Lankesh, is easily available in the illegal market and is cheaper than a smartphone.
According to an SIT official, when a bullet is fired from a pistol, it carries abrasions on its surface called "striation marks". These marks are unique, like fingerprints.
If the bullet fired at Gauri matches with bullets fired at M M Kalburgi, activist Narendra Dabholkar and senior communist leader Govind Pansare, it can be concluded that the same weapon was used to kill Gauri also.
Different investigating agencies in Maharashtra and Karnataka, besides the CBI, have concluded that Kalburgi, Pansare and Dabolkar were killed with the same weapon.
Though the SIT probing Gauri's murder is convinced that a similar weapon was used to kill her, it is yet to be established whether it is the same gun that was used to shoot the three others.
According to Union home ministry records in 2014 and 2015, 362 unlicensed weapons were seized in Karnataka alone. Karnataka stands fourth in the seizure of illegal firearms.
Retired assistant commissioner of police B B Ashok Kumar said, "Some army officers have started illegal units in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.''
These country made pistols have started entering Mumbai and Delhi. Now one unit has started in Malappuram in Kerala, Kumar said.
These pistols are freely available in the market for Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 and also on e-commerce websites in the black market.
Kumar added, "The weapon is very small in size and is easy to handle. Most professional killers use country-made pistols since their cartridges are easily available in open licence arms and ammunition stores."
APMC president K Srinivas alias Kadabagere Seena was attacked in February near Yelahanka with a country-made pistol while a rowdy-sheeter was shot dead last June with a country-made pistol.
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