Four men opened fire in the air to inaugurate a volleyball tournament in Malda district on Thursday evening, prompting police to seize the guns and register a case against them under the Arms Act.

The Tiptop Club organised the tourney at Nurpur under the jurisdiction of Manikchak police station. Four persons, who own licensed double barrel breach loading (DBBL) shotguns, fired one round each in the air to mark the opening of the sports event.

Police personnel present nearby heard the gunshots and a team from the Manikchak police station arrived soon and seized the shotguns.

“Yesterday, four blank rounds were fired from the licensed firearms at the opening of the volleyball tournament. It is a clear violation of the Arms Act and soon after, the licences and the firearms were seized,” said Pradeep Kumar Yadav, the superintendent of police, Malda.

The four seized guns at the Manikchak police station

The police, he said, registered a case under Section 30 of the Arms Act against Mansoor Ahmed Khan, Mohammed Aminur Rahman Khan, Alkama Khan Chaudhury and Mohammad Bakhtawar Khan. All the four are from Pathanpara in Nurpur.

A video showing the firing is circulating on social media.

Gour Chandra Mondal, the general secretary of the BJP’s Malda south (organisational) district, referred to the recent attacks on Trinamool Congress leaders with firearms in the district.

“The use of firearms has become rampant in the district. The police seem to be in hibernation and people feel unsafe. Instead of maintaining law and order, the police are busy serving Trinamool and not the people,” said Mandal.

The TMC said the police had acted promptly as soon as they had known about the firing. “Bengal is not Uttar Pradesh or Maharashtra. Here, the police took stringent steps immediately against the offenders,” said Subhamay Bose, a vice-president of the TMC in the district.