The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)?today?conducted searches at around 40 locations in a case related to arms licence racket.

The raids were conducted at Jammu, Srinagar, Udhampur, Rajouri, Anantnag, Baramulla, Delhi at the official and residential premises of senior officials including the IAS and the KAS officers.? The raids were also conducted at 20 gun houses and their dealers.

In 2018, the CBI had registered arms licence racket case on the request of the Jammu and Kashmir government to probe a vigilance case which alleged that during the period from 2012 to 2016, the Deputy Commissioners of various districts of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir had fraudulently and illegally issued bulk arms licenses.

The CBI had registered two cases of the FIRs registered on?May 17, 2018, at the police station vigilance organization Kashmir (VOK) and the police station vigilance organization Jammu (VOJ).

It is alleged that more than 2.78 lakh arms licenses were issued to the non-entitled persons during this period. According to the CBI, it has also collected documents pertaining to the issuance of armed licenses allegedly spread over 22 districts of J&K.

“During investigation and scrutiny of documents, the role of certain gun dealers were found who in connivance with the public servants i.e. the then DM and ADM of the concerned district had allegedly issued such illegal arms licenses to the ineligible persons. It was also alleged that the persons who got these licenses were not residents of the places from where the said arms licenses were issued,” the CBI said.