Habitual peddler detained under major crackdown

In a significant blow to the drug mafia operating along the interstate border, the Nurpur police district has detained a habitual drug peddler under the stringent Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) Act. The State Home Secretary, acting as the detention authority, issued detention orders on Tuesday against Veero Devi, a resident of Tamota village under Indora police station, for her repeated involvement in drug trafficking.

The accused was arrested by the Indora police on Wednesday after the detention order was received. She had previously been arrested multiple times following the recovery of heroin (chitta) from her possession and was repeatedly granted bail by the courts. Most recently, she was arrested on March 3, 2024, with 10.09 grams of heroin. Five NDPS cases had already been registered against her before this latest detention.

Nurpur Superintendent of Police Ashok Ratan said that due to her continued involvement in narcotics trafficking, a proposal was submitted to the Home Secretary on November 19, 2023, requesting her preventive detention under the PIT-NDPS Act. This is the seventh such detention order secured by the district police, making Nurpur the most proactive in the state in using this legal provision.

The police also revealed that Veero Devi’s husband, Kans Raj, is a known repeat offender in drug peddling. He has been arrested multiple times, with six NDPS cases registered against him at the Indora police station.

Authorities are treating these detention orders as a strong tool to ensure prolonged imprisonment of repeat offenders and to initiate financial investigations against them, aiming to dismantle the drug network in the region.