Jammu and Kashmir: 22 locations in Jammu and Kashmir this morning, got raided by CBI including the residence of senior Jammu and Kashmir IAS officer, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, in connection with the illegal sale of gun licenses.
Mr Choudhury, currently Secretary of Tribal Affairs and CEO Mission Youth, Jammu and Kashmir.
He served as the Deputy Commissioner of Kathua previously, Reasi, Rajouri and Udhampur districts, during the time he allegedly issued thousands of licenses under fake names to people in other states and UTs.
At least eight former Deputy Commissioners are being investigated by the central agency.
Since 2012 over two lakh gun licenses have been issued illegally from Jammu and Kashmir. It is considered to be biggest gun license racket in India.
Last year two officials, including IAS officer Rajiv Ranjan, were arrested by the CBI.
Ranjan and Itrat Hussain Rafiqui, during their tenures as Deputy Commissioner of Kupwara district, allegedly illegally issued several such licences.
In February last year the agency arrested a private individual who was “involved in various financial transactions with other co-accused, including public servants”.
The CBI has previously said it has unearthed a “deep-rooted conspiracy” in this matter.
The scam at first was discovered by Rajasthan’s Anti-Terror Squad in 2017, when Mr Ranjan’s brother and others working as middlemen for gun dealers got arrested.
However, J&K government then protected the accused under the guise of a vigilance probe.
The case was then handed over to CBI by the former Governor, NN Vohra, after he found the scam was being run J&K government officers.
