New Delhi: Amid the searches at 40 locations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the illegal arms licences case, IAS officer Shahid Choudhary broke his silence saying that the agency searched his premises and found nothing incriminating.
In a tweet Choudhary said, “With reference to media reports I have to confirm that CBI did search my residence and found nothing incriminating in ongoing arms license probe. Media friends may note the probe covers four years across all distts. I am fully answerable to CBI for my tenure.”
He also attached a sheet with his tweet of the stats from his tenure.
In his statement, Choudhary said, “Tenure in three districts: Out of 4.49 lakh arms licences issued in J&K between 2012-16, only 56,000 (12.4 per cent) issued in three districts of Raesi, Kathua and Udhampur where I served as DM.”
He said that this is not “disproportionate”.
Choudhary added that “lowest number: of the 56,000 licences issues in three districts — Raesi, Udhampur and Kathua — between 2012-16, only 1,720 were issued in my tenure — three percent of all licences issued in three districts in four years or during the period under investigation and 0.38 per cent of all such licences issued in J&K.
He said the licences issued in three districts under his tenure have been among the lowest by any DM in any district.
The officer stated that “procedural irregularity: oversight or procedural indiscretion in few cases cannot be completely ruled out as this passes through several clerical stages”.
“Of the 36,000 licences issued in Udhampur between 2012-16, only 1,500 odd (less than four per cent) issued under my tenure. I have complied with agency queries, committed to do so in future also,” he added.
His remarks came amid the CBI searches at 40 locations, including the residential premises of two IAS officials, in Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi in connection with its probe into alleged illegal arms license case.
