Bhagwant Mann govt cracks down on Punjab 'gun culture', cancels 800 licences

Among the licences cancelled, 87 were from Ludhiana Rural, 48 from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, 10 from Gurdaspur, 84 from Faridkot, 199 from Pathankot, 47 from Hoshiapur, 6 from Kapurthala, 235 from SAS Kasba, and 16 from Sangrur. Arms licences of 27 people of Amritsar Commissionerate, and 11 of Jalandhar Commissionerate.

The Punjab government has cancelled more than 2,000 arms licences so far.

The state government has directed that rules have to be followed to keep guns and banned the carrying and displaying of weapons in public functions, religious places, marriage ceremonies or any other events in Punjab.

There will be a complete ban on the glorification of violence and weapons, the Aam Aadmi Party's government said, adding that random checking will be done in different areas in the coming days.

There are a total of 3,73,053 arms licences in Punjab and the AAP government claimed to continuously take action to end 'gun culture'.

The killing of 28-year-old Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala last year brought into the limelight the prevalent glorification of guns in Punjabi pop culture, leading to calls for regulation.

The popular artist, who had a whopping 8.1 million followers on Instagram, was accused of promoting gun culture as he is seen posing with weapons in videos and photographs. In fact, a case was filed against him after images showing him firing a rifle went viral.