CRACKDOWN: CBI raid 17 sites in J&K in connection with arms' licences corruption case

In a major crackdown against corruption in Jammu and Kashmir, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at 17 places on Monday. The searches were carried out in Srinagar, Jammu, Gurgaon and Noida at the premises of then-District Collector and District Magistrate of Kupwara, Baramulla, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Shopian, Rajouri, Doda and Pulwama in an ongoing investigation of two cases related to allegations of issuance of around two lakh arms' licences from different districts of J&K. This is one of the first big operations carried out by the agency after the reorganisation of the state as a union territory.

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Corruption and fraud

According to CBI officials, it is alleged that the then public servants, involved in this conspiracy of issuance of licences to non-residents of J&K in violation of rules, allegedly received gratification. During 2012-16, district magistrates and collectors of various districts particularly that of Udhampur and Kupwara issued gun licenses in thousands. District officials used corrupt practices and, for monetary consideration, fraudulently issued gun licenses which raised serious security concerns.

According to the FIR registered by CBI, the region faces serious internal security challenges since the licensing authority brazenly flouted norms for monetary consideration and abused their official position as public servants. The FIR was filed in 2018.

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Civil servants under scanner

The searches were carried out at the residences and office premises of the following district magistrates and district collectors –Kupwara DC Rajeev Ranjan, former Baramulla Udhampur DM Yasha Mudgi, former Kupwara DM Salim Mohammad, former Kshitwar DM Mohd Javed Khan, former Rajouri DM SC Bhagat, former Pulwama DM Jehangir Ahmed Mir and Doda DM Farooq Ahmed Khan. Rajeev Ranjan is currently serving the Jammu Metro Rail Corporation and Yasha Mudgil is presently the Managing Director of Jammu Power Distribution Corporation in Jammu.

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Search and seize

Searches were carried out at three locations in Srinagar, one each in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Mohali. In Jammu, searches were carried out at 11 places. In the previous searches carried out at 11 places, gun stores were also searched. Documents seized from that raid included gun license renewal form, blank NOC and money trial. After analysing these documents, Monday's searches were carried out during which details of bank accounts, documents pertaining to properties and documents pertaining to issuances of arm licenses (2012-16) were recovered.

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