NIA arrests 4 drug traffickers in Handwara narco-terrorism case

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, March 1

The anti-terror federal probe agency NIA on Monday said it has arrested four drug traffickers from Srinagar in connection with the case pertaining to seizure of 21 kg of heroin and cash amount of Rs 1,35,89,850 from the members of a drugs syndicate operating in Jammu & Kashmir, as an FIR in this connection was initially registered at Handwara police station of Kupwara district on June 11, 2020.

Officials in the agency said those who have been arrested today by the NIA include Altaf Ahmed, a resident of Ganderbal, Showkat Ahmad Parray, resident of Bandipora, Mudasir Ahmad Darm of Shopian, and Amin Allaie, a resident of Anantnag. “The arrested accused persons were produced before the CJM Court in Srinagar today and have been taken on transit remand for 3 days,” said a spokesperson in the agency.

The official said, “The case was initially registered at Handwara police station wherein during checking of vehicles at Kairo Bridge, Handwara, accused Abdul Momin Peer’s Hyundai Creta vehicle was intercepted by police at a naka and during search Rs 20 lakh along with 2kg heroin was recovered.”

Later NIA took over the probe and re-registered the case on June 23, 2020 and a charge sheet was filed in the case on December 5, 2020 against six accused persons in the NIA special court, Jammu, the official said.

“The investigation has so far revealed that the accused persons were involved in cross-border smuggling of heroin in huge quantities from Pakistan and were supplying the same in J&K and other parts of the country. They were also in regular communication with the operatives of proscribed terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Toiba(LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), using encrypted chat platforms. The proceeds of sale were being used to finance the activities of terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba operating in the Kashmir Valley,” the NIA spokesperson said.