Multiple teams of the Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday conducted raids in 40 locations across Jammu and Kashmir as part of their probe into an arm licence racket, news agency ANI reported.
The central probe agency said several district magistrates in collusion with arms dealers had issued illegal gun licences since 2012. In what is believed to be India’s biggest gun licence scam, nearly 3 lakh illegal gun licences have been issued by them for money, said the agency.
The CBI raids also included the residence of Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department, J&K Government and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mission Youth J&K and Skill Development Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary at Tulsi Bagh government quarters in Srinagar.
Later in the day, Choudhary, in a tweet, said that nothing incriminating material was found during searches by CBI at his residence while admitting there were irregularities in some cases.He also added that the licences issued in the three districts under his tenure have been among the lowest by any district magistrates in any district.
Besides Choudhary, at least seven other Deputy Commissioners are a part of the CBI probe into the gun license scandal. Last year, CBI had arrested two officials, IAS officer Rajiv Ranjan and Itrat Hussain Rafiqui in a case related to the scam.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad of Rajasthan first unearthed the arms licence racket in 2017 after they found criminals with licensed weapons, which were issued by bureaucrats in Jammu and Kashmir. Over 3,000 licences were given in the name of Army personnel on fake documents, the ATS had reported.
Peoples’ Democratic Party-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir had allegedly attempted to shield the accused under the garb of a vigilance probe. However, after the imposition of Governor’s Rule in 2018, the then Governor NN Vohra handed over the case to CBI after the scam was found to be operated by Jammy and Kashmir officers.