IAS officer’s residence among multiple locations raided by ED
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday launched multiple raids including residence of IAS officer in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the ongoing investigation into the infamous fake gun license racket.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has already taken up the probe into unlicensed weapons holders and dealers. Now, ED has also initiated probe.
Official sources said that the ED conducted raids at eleven locations viz eight in Jammu and three in Srinagar which were in progress till late hours.
Top sources confirmed that two dealers who deal with Jammu and Kashmir’s arms licensing have been nabbed by the agency and taken into custody for further questioning.
“The houses of some bureaucrats including one IAS officer namely Rajiv Ranjan at GulamiBagh , one former Deputy Commissioner Itrit Hussain Rafiqui at Srinagar, one former Additional Deputy Commissioner namely Ravinder Bhat at Srinagar, judicial clerk namely Tariq Atar at Srinagar were also raided ,” they added, adding, besides them , six arms dealers’ houses were also raided by the ED. They have been named as Bharghw Arms Dealers namely Madhu, Amar and Mukesh at Gandhi Nagar, Mohinder Kumar at Trikuta Nagar, Sawarn Singh at Gumatand Khajuria arms dealers at Jeevan Nagar.
They said that the CBI in the year 2020 had arrested Rajiv Ranjan, an IAS officer, and Itrit Hussain Rafiqui– in connection with the issuance of a large number of arms licenses on the basis of forged documents during their tenure in district Kupwara as DC and ADC. Duo was later released on bail.
Sources further said that while two arms dealers were taken into custody by ED for questioning one of the arms dealers threw multi lakhs rupees on roads back side to his house. The amount was later also seized by ED team.
They said that ED has also seized some incriminating documents , bank records, papers of their movable and immovable properties for scrutiny. They said that there is also apprehension of selling the arms and ammunition to the militant groups.
Earlier, the CBI conducted extensive raids in Jammu and Kashmir in relation to cases of alleged granting of firearms licenses to ineligible people. The premier probe agency said that ‘bulk issuance of arms licenses’ in Jammu and Kashmir between 2012 and 2016 witnessed over 2.78 lakh arms licenses issued to ‘non-entitled persons’. Multiple probes carried out through the years have indicated the role of certain ammunition dealers who ‘in connivance with public servants had allegedly issued such illegal arms licenses’.
