Hizbul smuggling narcotics into J&K, ultra’s brother held with 12 kg heroin

10 local militants active in Kishtwar, will be eliminated soon: IGP

JAMMU: Besides propagating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen is also engaged in smuggling narcotics into Jammu and Kashmir from across the Line of Control.
Hizbul's drug smuggling nexus was unearthed as police arrested a smuggler near LoC in Poonch along with 12 kilogram heroin worth Rs 60 Crore who was in touch with his Pakistani handlers across the border. Only four days ago, Border Security Force had recovered 5 Kilogram Heroin valuing Rs 25 Crore on International Border at Suchetgarh.
“Mohammad Altaf alias ‘Hafiz’, a resident of Behrouti Kanga village of Balakote area in India's Mendhar sector was arrested on June 21 on a tip off by of his two accomplices, nabbed last month along,” Jammu Inspector General of Police M K Sinha told reporters at a press conference here while announcing about Hizbul's drug smuggling nexus.
The arrest was made based on the disclosure of two drug peddlers namely Fayaz Ahmad Dar of Bijbehara and Arshad Ahmad of Shopian who were arrested by Police Station City, Jammu with 260 grams of heroin and a cash of Rs 12.63 lakhs on May 27.
The duo was arrested by a police team on from Vivekanand Chowk in Jammu.
"During their interrogation, the arrested smugglers revealed that there is a nexus between Hizbul Mujahideen militants, trained in Pakistan and presently living with narco smugglers on this side of the border," he said.
"Hizbul Mujahideen is smuggling the narcotic substance through its conduits into the country," he said.
"At the moment we are still investigating and trying to study how the money is circulated and where it is used," said Sinha.
"A five member special investigation team headed by SP (North) Amrit Paul Singh was constituted and during sustained interrogation, Arshad broke down and named Hafiz who is actually receiving the consignment at the zero line in his village and smuggling the same into India," the IGP said.
He said Hafiz was arrested on June 21 and at his disclosure, 12 kgs of heroin was recovered from his village on Sunday.
"Fayaz had gone across the LoC in January 2018 to meet his brother Ayaz who is a Pakistan-trained Hizbul Mujahideen militant. He fled to Pakistan after remaining active here for many years and is presently living in Rawalpandi," said Sinha.
The IGP said four accounts belonging to one of the three arrested smugglers were frozen and further investigation is on.
Police is also on job to crack another nexus in the Kashmir valley of similar nature, he revealed.
Highlighting police achievements against its anti-drug drive, Sinha said so far 454 drug peddlers were arrested this year and 341 cases under the NDPS Act registered against the 302 arrests and 231 cases during the same period last year.
On recoveries of narcotics this year, he said 57 kgs of heroin, 5,035 kgs of poppy straw, 111 kgs of charas and 15,676 bottles of banned 'corex' were seized so far.
Pertinently, Border Security Force on June 20 recovered 5 Kilogram heroin valuing Rs 25 crore in the International market, during patrolling on International Border at Suchetgarh in winter capital of state.
The consignment was suspected to be taken to Punjab through local Indian smugglers working for Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the IGP said that at least 10 local terrorists, mostly belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit, are active in Kishtwar district.
"A total of 10 terrorists -- eight belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and two to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are active in Kishtwar district. All of them are local youths," Sinha told reporters in response to a question about the number of active terrorists in the hilly district of Jammu region.
Kishtwar was declared terrorism-free over a decade ago, but was rattled by the killing of State Secretary of BJP Anil Parihar and his brother Ajeet Parihar on November 1 last year, followed by assassination of senior RSS leader Chanderkant Sharma and his security guard inside a health centre on April 9.
So far, the terrorists behind the killings have evaded arrests even as security forces launched a massive operation to track them down and had two brief gunfights with the hiding terrorists on May 31 in Appan area of Marwah and again on June 21 in Keshwan forest.
While two special police officers were injured in Marwah encounter, a suspected terrorist was believed to have been injured in Keshwan, but the terrorists managed to escape from both the places.
Asked whether it was worrying for the security forces that the ultras managed to give them a slip after establishing contact with them, he said, "We have learnt our lessons and will go fully prepared next time when there is an information about their presence."
"When we received information about presence of terrorists in Marwah, we sent an advance party for recce of the area but unfortunately it came under fire and the ultras fled. Same was the case in Keshwan," he said.