Cross-border drug trafficking: Five soldiers denied bail in Kashmir

Srinagar: Five army personnel and four others accused of running a drug smuggling racket from the Line of Control in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir have been denied bail by a court.

They were arrested in January for smuggling drugs from the Tangdhar sector. Police recovered a cache of drugs from their possession. According to officials, drugs came from Pakistan through the Tangdhar sector, and five soldiers - Naib-Subedar Puran Singh, Anil Kumar (driver) Sepoy Sushil Kumar, Naik Waseem Ahmad Mir, and Mohammad Shafiq Khan - posted in the Panzgam area of Kupwara were involved in drug trafficking. Four civilians arrested have been identified as Mashkoor Sheikh (working as a porter with the Army), Mohammad Yousaf Kothari, Saleem Sheikh, and Mohammad Imran Teli.

Today, the bail application of the accused came for hearing before the Additional district and sessions judge, Kupwara. The court made strong observations against them while rejecting the bail. The judge noted that the army personnel were supposed to be the protectors of society but turned out to be perpetrators in drug trafficking. The court also said the custody of the accused is needed to catch the other members of the gang, reported NDTV.

Cross-border drug smuggling has become a major concern for the government and police have launched a major crackdown in the last few months. Last year, 85 cases were registered against over 160 people in the frontier district of Kashmir.