Three Pakistani narcotic smugglers were gunned down by Border Security Forces (BSF) along the International Border in Samba sector of Jammu on Sunday and Heroin valued at Rs 180 crore was recovered from their possession.
“In the early hours of Feb 6, the alert troops of BSF Jammu neutralized 3 Pak smugglers who were trying to smuggle Narcotics through Samba International border and recovered 36 Packets (Approx 36 kgs) of narcotics, likely to be Heroin and thwarted a big smuggling attempt,” a BSF spokesperson said in a statement.
He said search of the area is in progress and further details will follow. However, bodies of the intruders are yet to be recovered.
J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh had last year said that Pakistan was targeting Kashmiri youngsters by making them habitual to drugs. “They (Pakistan) are repeating the same dirty game that they played in Punjab. First giving arms training and later spoiling the youth with drugs,” he said.
A survey carried out by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of the AIIMS, New Delhi on the “Magnitude of Substance Use in India” placed Jammu and Kashmir at the fifth spot with over six lakh people affected by drug abuse. The figures reveal that 90% of the substance abusers fall in the age group of 17 to 33-years.
In the last stages of his life even Hurriyat hawk and pro-Pakistan leader, late Syed Ali Geelani had apparently realised that the country which he supported all along was pushing the next generation of Kashmir towards drugs. He issued a statement on drug trafficking in July 2020.
Late Geelani without naming Pakistan had expressed serious concern over drug abuse in Kashmir. Although he had not named the neighbouring country in his statement, it had evoked a strong reaction from across the border which led to him being ousted from the post of a chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference.
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