Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Sakina Itoo has criticised the demolition of houses and commercial properties linked to alleged drug peddlers, accusing the police of targeting people under the guise of an anti-drug campaign.
Over the last 10 days, Jammu and Kashmir Police, along with revenue officials, demolished at least 10 residential and commercial properties, mostly in south Kashmir, as part of the ongoing “Nasha Mukt Jammu and Kashmir” campaign launched by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Police said the action was intended to send a “clear and unequivocal message” that people involved in narcotics trade would face “strict and visible consequences”.
In some cases, police claimed the demolished structures had been illegally built on government land or without permission. In others, authorities alleged the properties were constructed using proceeds from drug trafficking.
After demolishing a 15-shop commercial complex in Bijbehara, police said the structure belonged to a “notorious drug peddler” booked under the NDPS Act and had been illegally built on state land.
In Srinagar, police demolished another house, alleging it had been developed using money generated through narcotics trafficking.
Reacting to the demolitions, Sakina Itoo said the authorities should focus on stopping drugs from entering the region rather than demolishing homes.
“Don’t target the people making it an excuse,” she told reporters. “If you arrest someone, where does he get these drugs from? The Home Department should check that drugs don’t come here.”
Calling the demolitions “absolutely wrong”, she warned that bulldozing houses and properties could have negative consequences.
“If you recover drugs from someone, you demolish a property that is not even in his name, that is a property of his parents,” she said.
Itoo also questioned how drugs were entering Jammu and Kashmir despite a heavy security presence along the borders and urged authorities to act against suppliers instead.
The minister further alleged discrimination, claiming that the crackdown was harsher in Kashmir than in Jammu.
“As a Health minister, I will give you the figures that addiction is more in Jammu,” she said. “But in Kashmir, you use it as an excuse to seize properties and bulldoze houses.”
While at least 10 demolitions linked to drug cases were reported in Kashmir over the last 10 days, four similar demolitions were carried out in Jammu last month.