Rs 75-cr heroin with 'Afghan' stamp seized in Udhampur

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, October 23

The Jammu and Kashmir Police seized 21.5 kg of heroin worth more than Rs 75 crore in the international market with “Afghan” stamp on packets being smuggled in a truck from Kashmir to Punjab reportedly on the directions of a Pakistan-based handler.

Meant for supply in Punjab

• Truck bearing Punjab registration number intercepted at Zero Morh on Jammu-Srinagar NH
• Driver Kulwinder Singh of Nawanshahr arrested with 18 packets of heroin weighing 21.5 kg
• He had travelled to Kargil and loaded his vehicle with apple boxes in Kashmir
• Contraband was meant for supply in Punjab, claims Udhampur SSP Vinod Kumar

The seizure was made in Udhampur district when a truck bearing registration number PB08BT 9403 was stopped for checking at the Zero Morh area in Chenani on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh said truck driver Kulwinder Singh of Nawanshahr in Punjab was arrested with 18 packets of heroin weighing around 21.5 kg, Rs 10,000, a mobile and two SIM cards.

Sources said the driver had travelled from Kashmir to Kargil and returned to Kashmir on October 19 where he loaded his vehicle with apple boxes and heroin in Uri and started his journey towards Punjab on October 20.

Vinod Kumar, SSP, Udhampur, said the drug packets bore a stamp “Afghan Enterprises”. “A handler in Pakistan was in contact with driver Kulwinder Singh through a social media app. He had directed him to take the contraband to Punjab,” he said.

“We are investigating if the narcotics have anything to do with Afghanistan that is notorious for drug trade or was it a Pakistani drug smuggler who pushed the heroin into India,” the SSP said.

The police said the driver had travelled on the route two to three times earlier and was part of an interstate narco-smuggling gang. An FIR under Sections 8, 21, and 22 of the NDPS Act had been registered and further investigations were underway.

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