The most prevalently used weaponry by the Indian Police machinery happens to be .303 SMLE No.1 Mark III, of which around 500,000 are in service. And that vintage piece, it must be reminded, was discarded much before the World War-II by every major country in the world.
The other weapons most frequently used by the Police are: a standard 2-3 feet lathi, 0.410 musket (about 90,000) and bolt action 7.62 mm SLRs (about 400,000). These might look to be a bit intimidating to a common reader, but given the complex internal security scenario (especially with respect to the superior fire-power of terrorists and insurgents on one hand and need for efficient mob & riot controlling techniques on the other) the modernisation of Police weaponry is of extreme importance and urgent.
Critics contend that the weapons that largely reflect the needs of the colonial policing cannot be carried forward in recent era. And as terrorism has largely been attributed to the failure of the State Police set up, urgent changes then become the sine-qua-non.