Official held over fake arms licences

A senior official has been arrested for allegedly issuing more than 4,000 fake arms licenses in Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Wednesday.

A senior official has been arrested for allegedly issuing more than 4,000 fake arms licenses in Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Wednesday.

HT Image

Mukhtiar Ahmad Choudhary, while serving as a subdivisional magistrate in Mendhar, a border town in Poonch district, issued more than 4,000 licences, according to police. He was arrested from Dalpattian Mohalla in Jammu late Tuesday night.

Choudhary was on the run for over two months. Those who got the arms licences had bought weapons in different states in the country and the weapons had moved on to criminal gangs in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, the police said.

“The matter is being investigated,” a senior police officer told IANS.