KHUJAND, May 4, 2014, Asia-Plus -- A 30-year-olf resident of the northern city of Isfara (Sughd province), A.K., has been arrested on suspicion of illegally possessing firearms.

Officers from the Sughd regional organized crime control department (ROBOP) reportedly found Makarov pistol and two magazines for it while searching the house of A.K., who has previous conviction for hooliganism.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against A.K. under the provisions of Article 195 (1) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – illegal possession of weapons; an investigation is under way.

According to the statistical data from the Interior Ministry’s office in Sughd, 227 firearms, including seven pistols, 17 rifles and 203 smooth-bore guns were confiscated from local residents last year.  Seventeen criminal proceedings for illegal possession of weapons were instituted in the area in 2013.