Srinagar: The NIA on Monday arrested four drug traffickers in Kashmir for their alleged involvement in smuggling heroin in huge quantities from Pakistan and supplying it in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country, an official said.
Altaf Ahmed Shah of Ganderbal, Showkat Ahmad Parray of Bandipora, Mudasir Ahmad Dar of Shopian and Amin Allaie of Anantnag have been arrested from Srinagar, he said.
They have been arrested in connection with the case pertaining to the seizure of 21 kg heroin and Rs 1,35,89,850 cash from the members of a drug syndicate operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
The case was registered in June last year in Kupwara.
During the checking of vehicles in Kupwara, accused Abdul Momin Peer’s Hyundai Creta was intercepted by the police. During a search of the vehicle, Rs 20 lakh and two kg heroin were seized.
After the NIA took over the investigation, it filed a charge-sheet against the six accused in the special NIA court in Jammu in December last year.
“Besides cross-border smuggling of heroin, the accused were in regular contact with operatives of proscribed organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen through encrypted chat platforms,” the NIA official said.
“The proceeds of sales were being used to finance the activities of LeT in the Kashmir Valley,” he said.
The arrested accused were produced before the CJM court in Srinagar and have been taken on transit remand for three days, the official said, adding that further investigation in the case is continuing.
