The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Failure of pistol saves policemen

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Failure of pistol saves policemen

Marri Ramu

The bullet gets stuck in the chamber of the firearm

Four live rounds were still there in Vikar Ahmed’s pistol
Bullet getting stuck is common in short firearms: experts

HYDERABAD: There could be several factors that helped the three policemen of Counter Intelligence wing save their skin despite terror suspects firing at them with pistols three days ago near Santoshnagar.

But a bullet getting stuck in the chamber of 9 mm country-made pistol used by Vikar Ahmed has prevented what could have been a major casualty! As the policemen caught him and dragged him towards a sanitary shop at IS Sadan junction, one of his associates fired at the policemen with a pistol.

Police get time

Even before the unarmed policemen could react, Vikar Ahmed too shot one round at them with his pistol. “He pulled the trigger for second time when the bullet got stuck in the pistol chamber. This not only shocked him but also gave time for the policemen to recover and retaliate,” an investigator explained. They shoved him down and snatched the pistol but Vikar Ahmed managed to set himself free in the melee and escaped. “Had the second round not got stuck in the chamber, the terror suspect could have pumped all the rounds at the policemen endangering their lives and those of passers-by” a police officer investigating the case felt.

Police stumbled upon the pistol’s magazine with four live rounds on the sanitary shop premises on Friday. This confirmed that Vikar Ahmed had six rounds in the magazine and would not have hesitated to use all of them having already pulled the trigger twice.

Forensic experts said bullet getting stuck in the chamber was not uncommon in usage of short firearms. Though rarely, it happens with even company-made weapons. From failure of percussion cap on bullet to rusting of weapon’s inner parts to poor quality of bullet, anything might result in such situation.

Whatever be the reason behind the failure of the pistol, it had saved the lives of policemen, they said.

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Andhra Pradesh