IAS, KAS officers held in gun licence issue scam

New Delhi, March 1

Two former District Magistrates (DMs) of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara, including an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, were arrested on Sunday for their alleged involvement in a scam in issuing gun licences in Jammu and Kashmir for money, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said.

During investigations conducted by the CBI, the alleged role of Itrit Hussain Rafiqui (a Kashmir Administrative Service officer) and Rajiv Ranjan, IAS officer, both posted then as District Magistrates, Kupwara, J&K, has surfaced during their tenure as District Magistrates, Kupwara, J&K, from the year 2013 to 2015 and from 2015 to 2016, respectively,” an agency statement said.

The CBI had registered a case following this on May 17, 2018, following an FIR registered at a police station Vigilance Organisation Kashmir (VOK) on the allegations that during the period 2012 to 2016, the then District Magistrates/Deputy Commissioners of various districts of Jammu and Kashmir were illegally issuing “bulk arms licences in lieu of a monetary consideration”, the CBI said — IANS