Srinagar/New Delhi: The CBI on Saturday conducted searches at 40 locations in Jammu and Kashmir, and in the national Capital in connection with cases related to alleged irregularities in the issuance of over 2.78 lakh arms licenses to non-residents on forged documents during 2012-16, officials said.
The search operation was spread across Jammu, Srinagar, Udhampur, Rajouri, Anantnag, Baramulla and Delhi at the official and residential premises of public servants, including IAS officers, around 20 gun houses among others in an ongoing investigation of a case related to arms license racket, a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
Premises of two IAS officers — Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, posted as Secretary of Tribal Affairs in the Jammu and Kashmir government, and Niraj Kumar, Additional Resident Commissioner of UT in the national Capital — were searched, the officials said.
"With reference to media reports, I have to confirm that CBI did search my residence and 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," Choudhary tweeted.
He said oversight or procedural indiscretion in a few cases cannot be completely ruled out as these pass through several clerical stages.
"Of the 36,000 licenses issued in Udhampur between 2012-16, only 1,500 odd (less than 4 per cent) issued under my tenure," Choudhary said, adding that this number was the lowest among licenses issued by all DMs.
He said he has complied with agency queries, and was committed to do so in the future as well.
He added that out of 4.49 lakh arms licenses issued in Jammu and Kashmir during 2012-16, only 56,000 were issued in the three districts of Reasi, Kathua and Udhampur where he served as the DM.
"This is not disproportionate. Of the 56,000 licenses issued in three districts — Reasi, Kathua and Udhampur — between 2012-16, only 1,720 were issued in my tenure which is three per cent of all licenses issued in three districts in four years or during the period under investigation and 0.38 per cent of all such licenses issued in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
The residence of retired officer of Kashmir Administrative Service, Shabir Ahmad Bhat, who has served as DM of Rajouri, was also searched, the officials said.
Besides this, premises of six additional DMs who had served in Poonch, Kupwara, Bandipora, Baramulla and Ramban during 2012-16 were also searched by the CBI, they said.
The agency had registered two separate FIRs into the alleged irregularities on October 16, 2018.
The CBI had in December 2019 carried out searches at over a dozen locations in Srinagar, Jammu, Gurgaon and Noida on the premises of the then district collectors and magistrates of Kupwara, Baramulla, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Shopian, Rajouri, Doda, Pulwama, and several other places.
The searches were carried out in connection with a probe into two cases pertaining to alleged issuance of around two lakh arms licenses from different districts of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir by their collectors and magistrates. It is alleged that arms licenses were issued in lieu of illegal gratification.