NOIDA: Manoj Jain, a businessman , and his family had a novel solution to celebrate a pollution-free Diwali this year — they fired in the air, instead of bursting crackers.Police on Tuesday booked Manoj under the Arms Act and recommended cancellation of his gun licences , after eight videos of last Wednesday’s celebrations went viral on Monday night.The videos were uploaded on Facebook by his son with a caption, saying the family celebrated “pollution-free Diwali” in their home in Harola, Sector 5.In one of the videos, Manoj, the owner of a house-keeping products company, can be seen firing at least four rounds in the air from his licenced double-barrelled gun and two revolvers on the terrace. His son, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law’s son and brother-in-law’s daughter too fired shots in the air one by one.In the same video that was shot by one of their relatives, a female family member can be heard asking Manoj in the background why he was doing so. “Nothing will happen,” he told the woman.Followed by Manoj, his son Ashu, daughter-in-law Vanshita and two other family members can be seen taking one of the guns and firing in the air one by one even as Manoj oversees them all. The youngsters can be seen posing with a revolver for the video.As the videos went viral, Noida police took cognizance of the matter and lodged an FIR against Manoj on the complaint of the local chowki in-charge, Jai Kishore.“Since Manoj holds the licences for the three guns, he has been booked under Section 30 of Arms Act. We will be sending a report to the district administration recommending the cancellation of his arms licences,” said Manoj Pant, SHO of Sector 20 police station.An offence under Section 30 of Arms Act (punishment for contravention of licence or rule) carries a jail term of six months and/or a fine of Rs 2,000.When contacted, Manoj admitted it was a mistake. “We did not get crackers in the market this year. It was a celebratory firing. We have tendered an apology to police,” he said.Asked why the videos were uploaded on Facebook, he said his children did it but the same had been removed.In 2015, the UP government had issued a circular against celebratory firing, directing the state police to take steps to stop such incidents as well as display of arms in public.

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