Jammu: In yet another sign of the growing narcotics trade in Jammu and Kashmir, the State police have arrested seven persons allegedly connected to it. It is noteworthy that out of the seven arrested were one police constable and three Special Police Officers.

Police said a narcotics smuggler codenamed Peer Baba used to provide the drugs to the accused. A raid was carried out on the house of a Rajouri resident, Zaheer Ahmed, at Shahdara Sharief on information that a deal heroin was being stuck there by the Special Police Officer (SPO) with the District Special Branch (DSB), Amit Sadhotra and Gurmeet Singh and Akhter Rasool. While Fazal Hussain, one of those involved, slipped away, the four were arrested. Three other accused were arrested later, including Police Constable of the Special Operations Group, counter terrorism, Mohammad Nissar Khan, and SPOs Imran Khan and Khalil Ahmed.

Two persons, Tariq Ahmed, an ex-SPO, a resident of Rajouri and Fazal Hussain are absconding. Several weapons, namely 100 AK-47 rounds, two Under Barrel Grenade Launcher grenades, one wireless set and one RPG booster were also recovered from the accused. A case has been registered at the Rajouri police station under the Explosives Act and the Narcotics Act.

All the accused were produced on Monday before the local court for police remand.

"At present, we are not ruling out anything, as explosives have also been recovered from them besides narcotics. We are going to the root of the case," DIG, Rajouri-Poonch, V.K. Singh, told The Hindu .

The narcotics trade is on the rise in the State and some police officers say this is used to fuel militancy in the absence of the old sources of funding. Most of the recent seizures have been near the Line of Control, where opium cultivation is uncommon.

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