Interior Ministry Reports Ongoing Efforts to Recover Weapons Stolen During January Unrest

The Ministry of Internal Affairs provided an update on efforts to recover weapons stolen during the January 2022 events, Orda.kz reports.

At a plenary session, Majilis deputy Zhanarbek Ashimzhanov raised questions regarding the number of weapons that were in stores before the unrest and whether the stolen arms have been recovered.

During the January events, thousands of weapons were stolen. And here is the question — before the January events, how many weapons were in the stores where the weapons were stolen? And were you able to find these weapons? Is there any inventory?

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Lepekha responded:

Criminal cases have been opened on the facts of theft, and all stores have been checked. Work on recovering weapons continues, and is being carried out almost every day,the Vice Minister noted. 

According to Lepekha, the Ministry has already recovered more weapons than were initially reported stolen, though many cannot be traced.

The problem is that many of the weapons have their numbers etched, filed off, or destroyed. Let's say we assume that this firearm was stolen from a certain gun shop. But we can't identify it, he explained. 

The Ministry has not disclosed exact figures.

Lepekha has also stated that Kazakhstan plans to tighten control over security organizations authorized to possess firearms.

Original Author: Zhadra Zhulmukhametova