Sharp-edged weapons banned in Srinagar

The ban was announced by Srinagar district magistrate Mohammad Aijaz Asad, an official spokesman said. 

The decision was taken apparently as a result of several recent incidents of stabbings reported from Qamarwari, Bemina, Kralpora, Batmaloo, Nowhatta, Kothibagh, Rambagh, among other places, as reported by the senior superintendent of police. 

The order said that the safety and security of the public is of paramount importance and incidents involving the use of sharp-edged weapons in public places pose a significant threat to the lives and safety of the citizens. 

"It has become imperative to check the practice of carrying sharp-edged weapons by people in territorial jurisdiction of district Srinagar so as to prevent the occurrence of such incidents," it added. 

Accordingly, the possession of sharp-edged weapons "whose blade is more than nine inches long or whose blade is more than two inches wide" for any purpose other than domestic, agricultural, scientific, and industrial purposes is a cognizable offence under Arms Act 1959, the order said. -- PTI