Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): Two persons including a government teacher were arrested by the joint teams of Police and the Army at Sadhna Top today, close to the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Narcotics worth Rs 50 crore market value and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from them, police said.
Addressing a joint press conference with the army at District Police Office (DPO) Kupwara, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kupwara, Shriram Ambarkar said that a government teacher along with another person who was involved in illegal transportation of arms, ammunition and a consignment of narcotics worth Rs 50 crores in the international market, was seized.
Flanked by Army’s Colonel PS Chauhan, the SSP Kupwara said that both the accused were in contact with Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit and were operating on the directions of Lashkar operatives across LoC to smuggle the huge amount of illegal narcotics, arms and ammo into the valley.
The SSP Kupwara said that the arrested duo was involved in the illegal trade of narcotics and ammunition of which one is a government teacher posted at higher secondary school Tangdhar, Kupwara and has been identified as Bashir Ahmad Sheikh (48) and another one has been identified as Abdul Amir Sheikh (43), a resident of Hajinar in Tangdhar, Kupwara.
He said that apart from narcotics worth Rs 50 crore in the international market, a huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered that include 20 grenades, one AK-56 rifle, its 76 rounds, 90 pistol rounds. The narcotics were wrapped in polythene bags, he added.
Talking about the surge in the illegal trade of narcotics in the border district, the SSP said that it is going to be a big challenge in times to come but not beyond the ability of security forces. “We have demonstrated so many times that we are able to bust modules back to back,” he said.
-ARK
