J&K task force freezes accounts linked with narco trade

The anti-narcotics task force of the Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday froze the accounts of persons linked with narco trade and officially took into custody a vehicle and gold weighing 108kg that were recovered on September 26 last year, officials said.

“The task force had recovered 108kg gold and 295gm poppy straw packed from a truck (registered in Punjab) in Anantnag on September 26. The truck driver and its conductor were arrested on the spot. During investigation, involvement of some south Kashmir-based drug peddlers and a Ludhiana-based smuggler had surfaced,” a J&K police spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that the Ludhiana man was identified as Sunder, who was the kingpin of the narco network and had been financing the drug trade in Jammu Kashmir and Punjab.

“Financial investigation was carried out and bank account statements and property details of the involved drug peddlers were obtained and analysed. It came to the fore that Sunder had transferred funds worth lakhs into the accounts of Gowhar and Nazir,” the spokesperson said.

“A car worth ₹11 lakh and gold coins worth ₹10.6 lakh have also been found illegally acquired by the arrested accused from illegal narco trade. Accordingly, two freezing orders were issued for the bank accounts and other illegally acquired property in respect of above mentioned south Kashmir-based drug peddlers. About ₹24 lakh has also been seized by task force and the freezing orders were confirmed by the competent authority and administrator under SAFEM/NDPS (Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators/ Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act,” he said.

“All the accounts have been frozen and vehicle and gold items have been seized,” he added.