The CBI on Tuesday searched 41 locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh in connection with the issuance of over 2.78 lakh arms licences allegedly to ineligible people.
The searches were carried out in Srinagar, Anantnag, Banihal, Baramulla, Jammu, Doda, Rajouri, Kishtwar and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, and Bhind in M.P.
“The official and residential premises of 14 retired and serving public servants who held various posts in Jammu and Kashmir during the check period; five middlemen and agents; and about 10 gun dealers were covered during the operation,” said a CBI official.
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Among them were three serving and one retired IAS officials. “They include retired IAS official [2002 batch] Sajad Ahmad Khan, who was DM Poonch; Basheer Ahmad Khan [2001 batch], then posted in Srinagar; Prasanna Ramaswamy G [2010 batch], then DM Kargil; and M. Raju [2005 batch], who was then DM Kargil,” the official stated.
Mr. Basheer Ahmad Khan was advisor to J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. He was removed from the post earlier this month following a communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The premises of retired Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officials Bashir Ahmad Khan and Farooq Ahmad Khan, who were DMs of Anantnag and Kulgam; and serving KAS officials Nishar Ahmed Wani and M.H. Malik, who were posted as DMs in Poonch, were also searched by the agency.
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Documents seized
The CBI seized documents related to issuance of arms licences, beneficiaries, investments in fixed deposit schemes, properties and bank accounts, besides locker keys, arms licence registers, some cash in old currency and other evidence from the suspects.
The probe is based on the two cases taken over by the CBI in May 2018 from the Vigilance Organisation Kashmir and Vigilance Organisation, Jammu. They alleged that arms licences were issued in over 22 districts of the erstwhile State of J&K to non-residents during 2012 to 2016.
The alleged scam was first detected during an investigation by the Rajasthan police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad in 2017, in which more than 50 people were arrested.
In March 2020, the CBI arrested IAS official Rajiv Ranjan, along with another accused, Itrit Hussain Rafiqui.