Hyderabad: Photo of corporator's husband holding AK-47 rifle goes viral

A Corporator's husband in Telangana has come under police scrutiny after he posted a picture of himself holding an AK-47 assault rifle on WhatsApp. As India has one of the strictest gun laws in the world, the picture was bound to provoke a police investigation. According to reports, Rajendra Nagar Corporator (TRS) Korani Srilatha’s husband Mahatma posted a picture on his WhatsApp status where he can be seen holding an AK-47 rifle. 

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Media reports suggest that after the police started investigating the matter, Mahatma switched off his phone and went into hiding. Telangana police suspect that the Mahatma borrowed the weapon from a policeman and took a photograph with it before posting it online. As per reports, Mahatma visited Sardar Vallabbhai Patel National Police Academy where allegedly borrowed the gun from an on-duty policeman. 

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Rajendra Nagar inspector reportedly said that no gun had been allotted to either Mahatma or Korani Srilatha. Suresh suspects that Mahatma might have borrowed the gun from gunman of either an MLA or an MP. He further added that if the weapon was not misused, any case against Mahatma will not be registered. He, however, said that if the gunman had given the weapon to Mahatma knowing that he would take a photograph, departmental action might be initiated against him based on orders from senior officials. 

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Similar incident

Last month, a youth from Uttar Pradesh was arrested after he posted a photo of himself on social media posing with a country-made pistol. As per media reports, the man was identified as Anoop Mishra alias Guddu from Hariharpur in Lalganj area of Pratapgarh. A country-made pistol of .315 bore along with two cartridges was seized from him during his arrest. A case under Section 3/25 (Arms Act) was registered against him, sub-inspector KM Pandey told the press. 

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