Drug peddler escapes from NCB custody – 4 days after arrest in high-profile J&K operation

An alleged drug peddler, who was arrested by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from a bus in Samba on September 3, escaped from its custody during the early hours of Monday. Identified as Aqib Bashir of Kakapora area in Kashmir’s Pulwama district, he was arrested when an NCB team intercepted a Jammu-bound bus coming from the Punjab side at Samba’s new bus stand.

Nearly 522 grams of heroin was seized from his possession. While details of how he escaped from custody remained unclear, officials said an alert was immediately sounded, and search and checking operations initiated across the Jammu region.

Police and security agencies were checking vehicles at key entry and exit points of Jammu district. The seizure led NCB to Ludhiana, Punjab, where officials claimed to have recovered another 197 grams of heroin in a follow-up operation on September 4.

About the Uri route, the officials claimed to have seized 5.160 kg of heroin from a vehicle in Jammu city’s Panjtirthi area on August 22. Investigators claim that this consignment had originated from Pakistan and entered Jammu & Kashmir through the Uri sector.

The trail from that case led investigators to the Union Territory of Ladakh, with officials arresting three Baramulla natives in Leh. Significantly, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had on Sunday outlined a three-year roadmap to make India drug-free by 2029, calling for a coordinated national campaign against narcotics.

Before that, in April, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha had launched a 100-day Nasha Mukt (drug-free) Jammu and Kashmir campaign, leading to the demolition of 81 houses and other immovable properties belonging to alleged drug peddlers and smugglers across the Union Territory.

The ruling National Conference and Congress leaders, as well as Opposition PDP, had criticised the demolitions, calling them “selective”, “extra-judicial” and a “punishment” to the entire family for the alleged crimes of individuals.

A number of former BJP councillors of the Jammu Municipal Corporation had also held a demonstration. “While we appreciate the initiative taken by the Lt Governor, the houses and other property of those in the administration and police who patronised drug peddlers and facilitated the sale of narcotics should also be demolished if we are really interested in completely wiping out the narco-terror network in the UT,” ex-mayor Rajinder Sharma had said.