India, Aug. 20 -- If over a dozen murders of policemen in the last two years is an indication, police personnel across the National Capital Region (NCR) are being increasingly outgunned by criminals wielding assault rifles and imported handguns, often acquired through illicit markets. While gangsters brandish high-end international handguns and assault rifles, police forces are often equipped with little more than aging 9mm pistols, outdated rifles, and often even just batons.

Criminals, increasingly resourceful and mobile, benefit from a burgeoning black market in arms. In a recent case, Delhi Police seized an improvised AK-47 rifle with 30 live cartridges. The weapon, assembled in the underground gun-making workshops of Bihar's Munger ...