Five police were among 17 people arrested after police busted a narcotics peddling module in Kupwara in north Kashmir on Friday.
A shopkeeper and contractor were also part of the module. The police had been working quietly to identify the culprits behind the drug menace in the district.
The police first arrested a poultry retailer, Muhammad Waseem, after recovering narcotics from his house, a statement said. Waseem told police he was part of the drug peddlers group and revealed their identities, including that of some from Uri in Baramulla.
Subsequent raids by police at various places across the district led to the arrest of 16 more persons. They were identified as Haroon Rasheed Bhat (SPO), Irshad Ahmed Khan (SPO), political activist Ishfaq Habib Khan, Tahir Ahmed Malik, dry fruits trader Khursheed Ahmed Khan and his son Imtiyaz Khan, Tamheed Ahmed Khan, Roman Mushtaq Bhat, Asif Rashid Hajam, Sajad Ahmad Bhat (SPO), Abdul Majeed Bhat (Police Constable), Trehgam, Zahid Maqbool Dar (SPO), Abid Ali Bhat, contractor Tanveer Ahmad Wani, Nadeem Javed and Tahir Ahmad Khan.
The police teams that carried out the operation include SHO Muhammad Rafiq Lone of Kupwara station and DySP (Prob) Khadim Hussain under the supervision of DySP Hqrs Rashid Younis.
The police said the smuggling module has again exposed the direct involvement of Pakistan-based militant handlers in pumping narcotics into Kashmir Valley to destroy Kashmiri youth.
"In this particular case, one Shakir Ali Khan, a Pakistan-based terrorist handler originally hailing from Keran, emerged as the main supplier of narcotics to his son Tahmeed Khan on this side of LoC," the police said, adding that on Tahmeed’s confession and disclosure, two packets weighing close to 2kg of heroin-like narcotic substance have also been recovered from his house.
Tahmeed used to transport it to Kupwara to sell it among others involved in the racket to earn huge money. Tahmeed’s father, Shakir Ali Khan, first crossed the LoC in the early 1990s to join militant ranks.
"After obtaining training in illegal arms and ammunition, Shakir infiltrated back and remained one of the top active militants of HM for quite some time in the Keran – Kupwara sector. Feeling the heat from security forces, Shakir again crossed over LoC and exfiltrated to PoK and is now a top militant handler also involved in pushing into Kashmir Valley arms, ammunition and narcotics," the statement said.
"In this case, FIR No.283/2022 of Police Station Kupwara, being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by DySP (Prob) Khadim Hussain, it has surfaced during the investigation that a quantity of about 5kg valued at Rs 5 crores in the market has been smuggled in from Pakistan by the head of this module, Tahmeed Khan, during the last three months," it said. Police further stated that of the 5kg, about 2kg has been recovered, about 1kg peddled among drug peddlers and addicts and about 2kg remains to be traced.
