NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have registered an FIR under the Arms Act after allegedly finding that a quick-commerce platform was selling illegal knives online. The complainant in the case, a constable posted at Khyala police station in west Delhi, stated that two recent murder incidents in the Khyala area were allegedly committed using knives purchased through online platforms. Following these incidents, police began scrutinising various e-commerce and quick-delivery platforms offering knives for sale.The constable placed the order on February 13 at 3.43 pm and paid Rs 710 online. The delivery address was deliberately given as the second floor of the police station. The knife was delivered at around 4.05 pm the same day on the police station premises. “During the checking of online platforms selling knives, it was found that a quick-commerce platform was selling prohibited knives online,” a police officer said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Darade Sharad Bhaskar said that, as part of a verification exercise, police placed an order for a knife through the online platform, Blinkit to ascertain whether the product being sold complied with legal specifications. “The knife that was delivered was found to be ‘gararidar’ (manually opened and closed) and exceeded the maximum permitted blade length of 7.62 cm and maximum permitted blade width of 1.72 cm. The knife had a blade length of 8 cm and a width of 2.5 cm. Hence, it was an illegal arm in violation of the government notification,” the DCP said. The complainant said that upon examination, the knife was found to have a steel blade and a black metal handle equipped with a steel strip mechanism. He added that pressing the strip allowed the blade to open and close, and a button mechanism between the blade and the handle facilitated its operation. The tax invoice reportedly listed the seller as the online platform, with an address in Tihar village, west Delhi. Based on these findings, a case under Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered. During further investigation on February 15, a total of 16 knives were recovered from various dark stores and platform-linked outlets across Delhi. Police teams continued their raids the following day and recovered 32 illegal knives from a warehouse of the platform located in Farrukhnagar, Gurgaon (Haryana). So far, a total of 50 knives have been seized in connection with the case. Police said further investigation is underway to identify those responsible for the procurement, storage and sale of the prohibited weapons.A response was sought from platform.
