Srinagar, Dec 24: Police on Tuesday claimed to have seized property including seven residential houses worth Rs 4.5 crore, while 26 persons have been detained under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (PIT-NDPS) in the Srinagar district this year so far.
Speaking during an annual news conference about the efforts of the police to combat the illicit sale of drugs and psychotropic substances, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar, Mir Imtiyaz Hussain, said a huge haul of brown sugar and heroin that was being “smuggled into Kashmir from Pakistan” has also been recovered.
The drug dealers were cautioned by the district police chief to either stop poisoning the next generation or be prepared to face the consequences.
The police have been working nonstop to rid society of the drug problem, the SSP claimed, adding that anyone caught engaging in such activities would suffer severe consequences.
“Not only the police, but society as a whole must contribute to end the drug problem from the ground up. In order to protect society, especially children, from this poison, it is now essential that the general public contribute to the permanent cessation of sale and use of drugs,” the SSP said.
In Kashmir, the drug problem has become more difficult for the police to combat than ‘terrorism’, which has been significantly reduced during the last four to five years, according to the SSP Srinagar.
Property worth Rs 4.5 crores including seven residential houses and seven vehicles, “acquired through illicit sale of narcotics”, according to SSP Srinagar, has been seized in Srinagar this year so far, while 26 notorious drug peddlers have been booked under the PIT-NDPS Act in different jails of J&K including Central Jails, Udhampur, Bhaderwah, Kathua Kot Balwal and Jammu after obtaining the formal detention orders from Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir.
“These drug peddlers have been involved in the peddling of narcotics among the youth of Srinagar on an alarming scale. Besides, they were also involved in several NDPS Act cases of various police stations of Srinagar,” he added.
Despite cases registered against them, the accused did not mend their ways after getting bail from the courts. “They were brazenly promoting drugs among the youth of the valley, especially in Srinagar, through their illegal narcotics network,” he said.
He said from January 1 to December 23, 94 cases under the NDPS Act have been registered in several police stations across the district.
“Over 150 persons involved in peddling and trafficking of narcotics and psychotropic substances have been arrested by Srinagar Police,” the spokesperson said.
“The problem we have been dealing with lately is drugs, and my colleagues here are working tirelessly to eradicate this threat and are waging the war on drugs in mission mode. Till date, we have detained 156 people in Srinagar and charge-sheeted 64 of 94 persons under the NDPS Act,” he informed.
The Srinagar police, he claimed, have recovered 1.7 kg brown sugar, 2.02 kg heroin, besides a new crystal meth, a synthetic drug being manufactured in laboratories, and have arrested two individuals from Uttar Pradesh.
“2.83 kg of crystal meth has been recovered, besides allopathic drugs in a huge quantity from drug peddlers in Srinagar so far,” he added.
