Biggest surgical strike on drugs! JK police seizes 51kg of heroin worth Rs 250 crore; two arrested

Srinagar, August 8: Continuing its high voltage efforts against drug trafficking and narco-terrorism, the Jammu and Kashmir police on Monday arrested two smugglers along with 51 kilograms of high-grade Afghan-origin heroin worth over Rs 250 crore from a Punjab-bound truck.

 

Notably, Jammu and Kashmir police seized 51 kilograms of high-grade Afghan-origin heroin worth over Rs 250 crore from a Punjab-bound truck and immediately arrested the driver and his helper both. In a press conference, Jammu's Inspector General of Police S D Singh Jamwal termed the catch as a biggest surgical strike on the menace of drugs.

Giving the necessary information, S D Singh Jamwal said that the truck laden with scrap paper was going to Punjab from Handwara area of north Kashmir's border district Kupwara and was intercepted by the police near Narwal-Bhatindi bypass on outskirts of the city on a specific information.

The drugs kept in 51 packets of one kilogram each was concealed in a specially created cavity on the side walls of the truck, he said, adding that the timely seizure the lives of the youth. “It is an alarming situation the drug traffickers are using Jammu as a transit route to smuggle narcotics to Punjab, Delhi and other parts of the country,” the IGP said, adding that at least 90 percent of the heroin smuggled to the world comes from Afghan-Pakistan region and the ISI- a notorious agency of Pakistan is involved in its smuggling.

Jamwal further identified the arrested persons as driver Gurdeep Singh and conductor Ravi Kumar, both residents of Jammu. The IGP, however, said he was confident that the police with its professional skills and determination would be able to meet the challenge successfully. The IGP also added that the crack team of the police involved in the operation would be suitably rewarded.

Earlier, in the day, Jammu police made the sensational seizure on a day when it, along with the Excise Department officials intercepted another drug consignment comprising of 1400 kgs of poppy husk from a fruit-laden truck in Kathua district.

According to the official figure, 64 kilograms of charas, 7.5 kilograms of charas powder, 194 kilograms of bhang and bhang dust, 925 kilograms of fukki, 915 kilograms of poppy straw and 3.75 kilograms of brown sugar were seized in the year 2016 from different parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, in the year 2015 police had registered 375 cases and arrested 442 people and 13 others have been booked under PSA.

Importantly, Pakistan uses terrorism and drugs as a primary tool to exploit youth of Jammu and Kashmir and disturb the stability of the country.