Overview
- Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced the November 1 surrender deadline on Friday and said no criminal cases will be filed for weapons handed in voluntarily before that date.
- Officials say intelligence shows country-made and imported firearms remain in forest-fringe areas after recent incidents including a Hanur encounter and a Bandipur seizure.
- The government has warned that teams will visit homes that do not declare weapons after the deadline to seize arms and take legal action.
- Shivakumar said firearm licensing will be liberalised so people who need guns for protection can obtain legal permits and the state will consider special allowances for frontline forest and police staff.
- The drive aims to reduce armed threats to forest personnel and wildlife while prompting better relations between forest officials and fringe communities, and it follows past mass voluntary surrenders of country-made guns.