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| Another cop dismissed; Over a dozen axed in two-year narco-terror crackdown | | |  Atul Sharma
Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 4: Sacking of another Jammu and Kashmir Police constable over alleged involvement in narcotics smuggling has once again brought the issue of police personnel's links with the narco-terror network into sharp focus, with more than a dozen policemen having been dismissed or terminated over the past two years as part of an intensified crackdown on the drug-terror nexus in the Union Territory.
On Tuesday, the Kathua Police dismissed a Selection Grade Constable from service after a departmental inquiry found him guilty of involvement in a narcotics case, reinforcing the Jammu and Kashmir Police's stated zero-tolerance policy towards personnel found aiding drug trafficking.
According to officials, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kathua Mohita Sharma dismissed Selection Grade Constable Aftab Ahmed, a resident of Reasi district, from service following a departmental inquiry linked to an FIR registered under various provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Billawar Police Station earlier this year.
The constable was apprehended during a police checking operation after heroin was allegedly recovered from his possession. He was immediately placed under suspension on April 8 on charges of grave misconduct and indiscipline.
A departmental inquiry was subsequently entrusted to the Superintendent of Police (Operations), whose report, submitted on July 27, confirmed the allegations and recommended his dismissal. Acting on the findings, the SSP ordered his removal from service.
The latest action adds to a growing list of police personnel dismissed or terminated for alleged involvement in narcotics-related offences as the administration intensifies efforts to dismantle the narco-terror ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier this year, on April 9, the Jammu and Kashmir Police dismissed Police Follower Shameema Bano from service over her alleged involvement in a drug-related case.
She had been placed under suspension in June 2021 after being arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Jammu, in connection with an NDPS Act case involving the seizure of contraband.
Following a departmental inquiry and completion of due process, the SSP Baramulla issued an order on April 8, 2026, removing her from service under the relevant provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Police Rules.
In another similar case, the SSP Udhampur dismissed Constable Arjun Sharma from service on April 1, 2026, after a departmental inquiry found him involved in a narcotics case registered under the NDPS Act.
The constable was allegedly caught with heroin during checking by a police team from Police Post Tikri. After the inquiry established grave misconduct and his response to a show-cause notice was found unsatisfactory, he was dismissed under Rule 359 of the Jammu and Kashmir Police Rules.
The crackdown on police personnel allegedly linked to narcotics trafficking gained significant momentum in April 2024, when the Jammu and Kashmir administration invoked Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution to terminate six government employees, including five policemen, for their alleged involvement in narco-terror activities.
The action marked the first instance in which Article 311 was invoked specifically against government employees accused of involvement in narcotics smuggling linked to terrorism.
According to the General Administration Department, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha approved the terminations after investigations allegedly revealed that the employees were part of a narco-terror network operated by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terrorist organisations based across the border.
The five dismissed policemen included Selection Grade Constable Saif Din, Head Constable Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, Constable Rahmat Shah, Selection Grade Constable Irshad Ahmad Chalkoo and Selection Grade Constable Khalid Hussain Shah. A government teacher from Poonch was also terminated in the same action.
The concern over the nexus between narcotics and terrorism had come into focus even earlier when, in December 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir Police busted a major Pakistan-origin narcotics smuggling network in Kupwara district.
In one of the biggest anti-narcotics operations in the region, police arrested 17 persons, including five serving policemen, besides a political activist, a contractor and a shopkeeper, for their alleged involvement in a cross-border drug trafficking racket.
Investigators had then stated that the module was operating from Pakistan and was part of a wider narco-terror network aimed at financing terrorist activities through drug smuggling.
The successive dismissals and terminations underscore the administration's continued drive to cleanse the police force of personnel allegedly involved in narcotics trafficking and to dismantle the financial networks that sustain terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. |
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