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| Heroine smuggling spans Afghan, Pak, J&K | | Some cops too under scanner for "links" with smugglers | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 14: A packet of 900 gms of heroine seized last week from a militant hideout in Gandoh forests of Doda had Pakistan markings on it. And, the heroine packets seized from the J&K cadre IPS officer Saji Mohan by the country's anti-terrorist squad (ATS) in Mumbai in January last year too bore similar markings.
Astonishingly, the 900 gms brown sugar packet seized from four persons, including Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teacher Sanjay Kumar and R&B department employee Rakesh, at Kishtwar yesterday was also Pakistan-made. But it had on it 'Made in Afghanistan' marking too.
So the ATS suspicion that the drug smuggling spans Afghanistan, Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir, seems to be holding water.
All the three seizures have common markings and all are linked to J&K. Now the issue is has narco-terrorism taken roots in the state, or are some cops already in know-how of things?
These questions continue to haunt the security agencies here. The involvement of a senior IPS officer in a crime of such a magnitude is a cause of worry for all.
The 12 kg heroine seized from Mohan and another 25 kg recovered at his instance from a flat in suburban Mumbai was said to have originated from Afghanistan and brought to India from Pakistan via Jammu and Kashmir borders, most probably by the infiltrating groups of militants or border-crossers.
What is even more worrisome is that the drug smuggling network could be overlapping with a wider gang active in smuggling weapons and hawala money into the country.
Mohan also used to obtain drugs from one Baljinder Singh of Doda, who used to smuggle them from Pakistan.
Mohan and Baljinder were said to have made startling revelations to their ATS interrogators. Based on these disclosures, ATS had concluded that while controlling crime, some "cops" had taken a chance to shift to the other side to make quick money.
The heroine seized from the militant hideout cost Rs 70 lakh in the international market. A contraband of such a whopping cost could not be given to militants here for personal use by their handlers in Pakistan.
Quoting intelligence inputs and interrogation reports of some arrested foreign militants, a senior police officer said the money received by selling heroine was being used to sustain militancy in the state.
"Narco-terrorism seems to be taking its roots in the state," he said and added, "It can bring a dangerous turn in the two decade long militant history of the state."
The agencies are now trying to find a linkage, if any, between the consignment seized from Saji and those seized from smugglers here. They feel that foreign militants, including Pakistanis, active on the J&K soil, were receiving consignments of heroine from Pakistan through border-crossers or infiltrators. These consignments were then sold to smugglers here and the proceeds, thus collected, were used to fund militancy, the officer added.
Cops -- Navin Kumar and Devendrapal Singh alias Rimpu -- who were Saji's personal security officers (PSOs), were also taken to Mumbai for questioning. But if one goes by the routine working of PSOs, they seemed to be innocent, as it was virtually impossible for them to disobey the orders of a senior IPS officer for carrying his bags and belongings, being totally unaware of their contents.
Both Naveen of Bishnah and Rimpu of Gadigarh were attached with Saji till his posting in Chandigarh as zonal director, Narcotics Control Bureau.They were deployed with Saji as PSOs when he was posted in the erstwhile Doda district (when Kishtwar too was part of it) as SSP. Surprisingly, most of the drug smugglers arrested in the state belonged to Doda and Kishtwar.
The officer said some known border-crossers of R S Pura, Bishnah and other border areas of the region were also likely to be picked up for questioning to know their role in the drug smuggling racket.
The arrest of Mohan with a haul of heroin had turned into a major embarrasment to the state's police establishment.
Mohan had named 27 more police officers who were involved with him in smuggling. They were under the scanner of central agencies.
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