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CBI raids across J&K, Delhi in illegal arms licences case
The central agency registered the case in 2018, a year after Rajasthan’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) unearthed the alleged scam and made arrests in connection with the issuance of the licences in violation of norms.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday conducted raids at multiple locations, including the premises of bureaucrats, in Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi in connection with its probe into a case related to illegal issuance of arms licences.
The central agency registered the case in 2018, a year after Rajasthan’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) unearthed the alleged scam and made arrests in connection with the issuance of the licences in violation of norms. According to Rajasthan ATS, at least 3,000 permits were illegally granted allegedly in the name of army personnel.
Magistrates in Jammu and Kashmir are accused of issuing the licences in bulk allegedly based on forged documents to non-residents between 2012 and 2016 “in lieu of monetary consideration”, people aware of the matter said.
Army officers/personnel are eligible to obtain an arms licence in the district in which they are deployed. They can also do so easily, without the requisite police verification, merely on the strength of a letter from the commanding officer. It is believed that these letters may have been forged or misused with the involvement of some army officers and jawans.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police initially probed the case before it was handed over to CBI.
A CBI spokesperson said the agency was conducting searches at around 40 locations in Jammu, Srinagar, Udhampur, Rajouri, Anantnag, Baramulla and Delhi, including the official and residential premises of certain public servants that also covered Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Kashmir Administrative Service officers. The raids were also being conducted on premises of gun dealers, the spokesperson added.
IAS officer Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said his official residence in Srinagar was searched on Saturday. “With reference to media reports I’ve to confirm that CBI did search my residence & found nothing incriminating in ongoing arms license probe. Media friends may note the probe covers 4 years across all districts. I am fully answerable to CBI for my tenure. Stats from my tenure are below,” he tweeted, citing the number of arms licences issued by him as deputy magistrate of Reasi, Udhampur, and Kathua between 2012 and 2016.
The people quoted above said CBI collected documents pertaining to the issuance of arms licences across 22 districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
“During investigation and scrutiny of documents, the role of certain gun dealers was found, who in connivance with the public servants... allegedly issued such illegal arms licences to the ineligible persons. It was also alleged that the persons who got these licenses were not residents of the places from where the arms licences were issued. The investigation is continuing,” the spokesperson said.
In December 2019, CBI carried out searches at over a dozen locations in Srinagar, Jammu, Gurgaon, and Noida in connection with the case.
According to Rajasthan Police officials, the Jammu and Kashmir government was informed about the racket in 2017 but several letters addressed to then Chief Secretary BB Vyas remained unanswered.
The Rajasthan Anti terror Squad has claimed that 1,32,321 of the 1,43,013 licences issued in Jammu region’s Doda, Ramban and Udhampur districts were to those residing outside the state. The number of licences issued for the entire state over the last 10 years is 4,29,301, of which just 10% was issued to residents in the state. The Rajasthan police further claimed they were not aware of the magnitude of the case and its serious ramifications when they began the operation, code named “Jubaida”. A sample survey of licences issued from Kupwara showed that no files or registers were maintained by the district authorities and many licences may have been issued on basis of forged documents.
