‘856 FIRs, 946 arrests in 43 days’
Younus Rashid
Shopian, May 23: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday said authorities had intensified action against narco networks across Jammu and Kashmir, leading to hundreds of arrests, seizures and attachment of properties during the last 43 days.
Addressing a gathering in Shopian, LG Sinha said the campaign was being carried out with a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach” under a strict zero-tolerance policy against drugs.
He said 856 FIRs had been registered and 946 drug smugglers arrested during the ongoing crackdown. All the accused, he said, had been detained under the PIT NDPS Act.
Sinha said more than 81 “narco palaces” built using proceeds of the drug trade had been demolished, while 101 such properties had been attached. “Assets worth crores generated through the drug trade have also been seized,” he said.
The LG said recommendations had been made for cancellation of passports of 116 drug smugglers, while 457 driving licences had already been suspended.
He added that registration cancellation process of more than 606 vehicles linked with narcotics trade was also underway.
The Lieutenant Governor further said large quantities of drugs had been seized during the operation while 5,641 medical shops across Jammu and Kashmir were inspected. “Licences of 260 medical shops have been suspended, and FIRs have also been registered against six medical stores,” he added.
Sinha said the crackdown had “shaken drug smugglers completely” and asserted that authorities would continue taking strict action against all those involved in the narcotics trade.