Ishfaq-ul-Hassan | India Tomorrow
SRINAGAR, MARCH 4—Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two top bureaucrats including a serving IAS officer for illegally issuing around two lakh gun licenses, mostly to the people living outside Jammu and Kashmir.
Kumar Rajiv Ranjan and Itrit Hussain Rafiqui, both former district magistrates of Kupwara were arrested by CBI on Sunday. On Monday, they were presented before the Special Judge (CBI Cases), Srinagar, who remanded them to 10 days of police custody.
Ranjan, a serving IAS officer, is presently posted as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Metropolitan Regulatory Authority and Vice-Chairman, Jammu Development Authority (JDA), while Rafiqui has retired from the services.
A CBI spokesman said there were allegations that from 2012 to 2016, the Deputy Commissioners of various districts of J&K, including Kupwara district had fraudulently and illegally issued bulk arms licenses for monetary consideration.
“During the investigation to unearth the deep-rooted conspiracy in the issuance of illegal arms licenses, CBI has arrested a private person on February 24 for working as a conduit for gun dealers and officials of various districts of J&K. He was also involved in various financial transactions with other co-accused persons including public servants,” he said.
Former district magistrates of eight districts are under scanner for issuing two lakh gun licenses. Eight districts from where the bulk arms licenses had been issued included Kupwara, Baramulla, Shopian and Pulwama, all in Kashmir valley; Udhampur, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Doda, all in Jammu region.
Sources said no files or registers were maintained by the district authorities and many of the licenses were issued to outsiders based on forged documents.
The fraud was first detected by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan. During the investigation, they found anti-social elements had procured weapons using the licenses issued from different districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
On December 30, the CBI had conducted simultaneous raids at 17 locations in Srinagar and Jammu, Gurgaon (Haryana), Mohali (Punjab) and Noida (Uttar Pradesh).
Official figures reveal that around 40,587 gun licenses were issued in Jammu and Kashmir in 2011 and 2012, with 7769 licenses issued in Srinagar alone during this period. It is followed by the Doda district in Jammu with 7,605 gun licenses. Around 7,048 licenses were issued in Shopian while 5,461 licenses stand issued in Udhampur district.
Similarly, 51,622 arms licenses were issued in 2009 and 2010. Doda topped the list with 15,876 licenses issued in the district. It was followed by Ramban district with 9,976 licenses. Around 6,297 licenses were issued in Srinagar district, 6,073 in Jammu district and 5,154 in Kishtwar district during the period.
