Arms licensing scam: Raj ATS for CBI probe
TNN Bureau. Updated: 7/23/2018 9:00:56 AM
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JAMMU: With no headway between Home departments of two states on the alleged gun licence scam, the Rajasthan government is reported to have decided to handover the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Probing an arms licence scam since November last year, the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police has consistently been alleging that it is not getting cooperation from Jammu and Kashmir Home Department as thousands of suspicious licences have been issued through various districts of this state.
Finally, reports said, the Rajasthan Police has recommended a CBI probe in the gun-licensing racket. Director General of Rajasthan Police O P Galhotra has written to the state's home department suggesting "transfer of the case to the CBI without any further delay.
"In view of the large scale of the scam, involvement of public officials of Jammu and Kashmir and the implication on the national security, the police headquarters had recommended in December 2017 that the case need to be transferred to the CBI for comprehensive investigation”, DGP Galhotra is reported to have said.
"The decision of the government in this regard is still awaited," Galhotra said, while drawing attention towards the recent deliberations with the Rajasthan home minister to seek early transfer of the case to the CBI.
On July 20, the case was sent to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's office to refer the file to Department of Personnel and Training, the nodal ministry for the CBI, the officials said.
The ATS probe so far has indicated involvement of some IAS officers of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre in issuance of arms licenses on forged documents.
According to the police probe, around 4.29 lakh arms licences have been issued in the last one decade from various districts of the militancy-hit state.
Taking cognisance of the ATS' requests, pending since last year, the Jammu and Kashmir government issued a notification on July 12 asking divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners to submit a detailed report on arms licences issued last year.