Indian police decommission historic British-era rifles

LUCKNOW, India: Police in northern India on Sunday bid goodbye to the historic British-era bolt-action rifles after using them for one last salute during the annual Republic Day parade.

The Lee-Enfield .303 rifle was the main firearm of British colonial military forces and, despite being designated "obsolete" around 25 years ago, it has been the main weapon used by police in Uttar Pradesh state over seven decades. The rifle -- used by the British during the two World Wars -- fires one shot at a time, after which the barrel needs to be reloaded by pulling the bolt.

"They have been in use since independence (from the British in 1947) and now they’ll be replaced by INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) and SLRs (Self-Loading Rifles)," said police superintendent Amit Verma. As many as 45,000 of the rifles were being used by the state police, Verma said, and the model was a favourite among constables due to accuracy and sturdiness.