SIA produces kingpin of narco-terror module in Jammu court, sent to judicial custody

The SIA on Saturday achieved a major breakthrough with the arrest of Arshad, the alleged kingpin of a narco-terror module, at Mumbai airport.

Mohammad Arshad alias Asif, a resident of Degwar-Terwan village in Haveli tehsil of Poonch, had been absconding since 2023 and was reportedly operatTing from Saudi Arabia, SIA officials said.

According to officials, the SIA issued a Look-Out Circular (LOC) against Arshad in 2023, and they followed it up with a non-bailable warrant (NBW).

The LOC came after authorities launched an operation against a narco-terror module operating in the Pir Panjal region in Poonch.

Arshad was the kingpin of the module and a key link between Pakistan-based handlers and operatives in Jammu and Kashmir, a SIA officer said.

In the joint police-Army search operation in 2023, an exchange of fire broke out between terrorists and the search team on the intervening night of May 30-31.

Four terrorists were apprehended and a huge cache of arms, ammunition — one IED, six hand grenades, one AK-56 rifle with 70 rounds and four pistols — and 29 kg of heroin were recovered.

A total of eight people were found involved in the matter, of whom two were absconding.

One of them, Laquit Ahmed, was arrested by SIA Jammu at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad in March 2025, after he had fled to Dubai following the incident, the spokesperson said.

Arshad had facilitated Ahmed's travel to Dubai and also organised a secret meeting in the Surankote area of Poonch to revive terrorism and narco-terror operations in the Pir Panjal region, the spokesperson said.