Farm owner arrested for keeping country-made gun

B Maria Jeniff (56), a resident of Dr Ambedkar Nagar, near Subramaniapuram in Tiruchy, has been running an aqua farm at their ancestral village in Cholagampatti near Bhuthalur. He had also constructed a house close to the farm where he used to stay when he visited it. 

The Bhuthalur police received information that Maria Jeniff was keeping a Single barrel muzzle loading (SBML) gun. The police rushed to the spot and confiscated the gun and arrested Maria Jeniff. 

The police said the district collector and district election officer has already issued an order directing all licensed gun owners to hand in their weapon to the nearest police station in the wake of the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. 

This is a routine procedure and Collectors issue this order whenever elections are announced and the model code of conduct takes effect. 

In Maria Jeniff’s case, the police were ascertaining if he had an arms licence to hold the gun. 

Single-barrel muzzle loaders are illegally forged in smithies and widely used by farm owners to shoot down invading animals like wild boar and sometimes straying deer. Muzzle-loaders have caused accidents as the barrel is not properly calibrated.