Dehradun: After 150 years of its service, the Uttarakhand Police is finally bidding adieu to .303 Lee-Enfield rifles that have been used since independence.
With the view to equip the force with modern weapons, the Uttarakhand government is already in process of providing the state police with Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) and Self-Loading Rifles (SLR) rifles to the state police.
The state police will be finally equipped with modern weapons as .303 rifles are being replaced by INSAS and SLR.
Almost a century old, .303 rifles were manufactured in 1857 and were first introduced in 1914 during the first world war. Since then the rifle has accompanied jawans all along in all kinds of operation.
The .303 rifle is a bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle that can fire one shot at a time after which the barrel needs to be reloaded.
The body of the rifle is made out of wood and hence handling them is cumbersome as compared to advanced weapons. The rifle was good as per the requirements of that time. The rifle which was extensively used in some of the prominent world wars has become obsolete because it requires a lot of maintenance and is prone to failure.
Aiming at strengthening law and order and providing a more secure environment to people, the Uttarkhand government decided to equip its police with the modern rifles. With criminals often managing to lay hands upon modern gadgets, the police personnel sometimes struggled with the rifles to keep pace.
DG law and order Ashok Kumar, said, "A team of five members has been constituted to make a detailed report on the matter. INSAS and SLR rifles have been introduced in the state to replace .303 rifles."
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