Srinagar: As many as 217 drug peddlers have been arrested and narcotics worth over Rs 7 crore recovered so far this year in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, police said on Thursday.
As part of its crackdown on drug peddling, the Baramulla police have registered 144 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the first five months of this year, a police official said.
So far, 217 drug peddlers have been arrested. Twenty-three of them, who are habitual drug peddlers, have been booked under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act and the Public Safety Act (PSA).
Contraband worth crores of rupees in the black market has been recovered, according to the police.
The police official said 2.625 kg of brown sugar worth about Rs 3.41 crore and 2.419 kg of heroin worth Rs 3.14 crore in the black market have been recovered. Charas, poppy straw, and cannabis powder have also been recovered.
The police also seized Rs 43.90 lakh in cash and 15 vehicles, he said.
The total value of the recoveries made so far stands at Rs 7,69,91,000, the police said.
They requested residents of Baramulla to come forward with information on drug peddlers in their areas to help eradicate the menace of drugs from society.
The identity of those providing information will be kept secret, the police said.
Meanwhile, today a “notorious” drug peddler Owais Naseer Sheikh, son of Late Naseer Ahmad Sheikh, resident of Sangrama Sopore, was booked under PIT-NDPS Act after obtaining formal detention orders from the competent authority, police said, adding that he has been detained and subsequently lodged in Central Jail Kot-Balwal Jammu.
In Shopian, police arrested a drug smuggler Abid Rashid Wani, son of Abdul Rashid Wani of Heerpora Shopian, after they intercepted a vehicle (JK22C-4970) at Arahama, and recovered 106 grams of cannabis-like substance from the said vehicle.
In Awantipora, arrested a drug peddler Adil Maqbool, son of Mohammad Maqbool Sheikh of Patalbagh Pampore and recovered 1.5 Kg of cannabis powder from his possession, police said.
