Five policemen are among 17 persons who have been arrested in north Kashmir’s Kupwara on the charges of their ‘involvement’ in Pakistan backed narco-terrorism. Police have busted a major narcotics smuggling module originating from Pakistan, said a police spokesman on Friday.

The arrested cops have been identified as Special Police Officers (SPOs) Haroon Rasheed Bhat, Irshad Ahmed Khan, Sajad Ahmad Bhat, Zahid Maqbool Dar and Constable Abdul Majeed Bhat.

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“In one of its biggest successes against drug smuggling and peddling in the district, police have arrested 17 persons, including five policemen, a political activist, a contractor and a shopkeeper from different areas of the districts of Kupwara and Baramulla, unearthing another narcotics smuggling module originating from Pakistan,” a police spokesman said.

He said that while working relentlessly to identify and act against the drug peddlers active in north Kashmir, police zeroed in on some drug peddlers active in Kupwara town and its adjoining areas.

Others who were arrested include Tahir Ahmed Malik, a resident of Rigipora, Khursheed Ahmed Khan, a dry fruits shopkeeper and his son Imtiyaz Khan, Tamheed Ahmed Khan, a Pakistan-based terrorist handler, Roman Mushtaq Bhat, a resident of Uri in Baramulla, and Asif Rashid Hajam, a resident of Batergam in Kupwara, the spokesman said.

“On a tip-off, one Mohammad Waseem Najar, a poultry shop owner and a resident of Darzipura, Kupwara, was arrested with some quantity of narcotics from his residential house,” the spokesman said.

After preliminary investigations, Najar admitted to be a part of a big group of drug peddlers and disclosed names of some of his associates belonging to the district as well as from the Uri area of district Baramulla involved in this illegal trade, the spokesman said.

“Subsequently raids were conducted at various places across the district and 16 more persons were arrested,” he added. A political activist Ishfaq Habib Khan is also among the arrested persons.

The spokesman said that Abid Ali Bhat, a resident of Bohipora Kupwara, Tanveer Ahmad Wani, a contractor, Nadeem Javed of Uri Baramulla and Tahir Ahmad Khan, a resident of Boniyar in Baramulla were also arrested by different teams of Police Station Kupwara.

On Tahmeed Khan’s confession and disclosure, two packets of heroin-like substance weighing nearly 2 kg have also been recovered from his house.

The police said during investigations it has also surfaced that about 5 kg narcotics valued at Rs 5 crore in the market has been smuggled in from Pakistan by the head of this module Tahmeed Khan during the last three months. Out of this, about 2 kg has been recovered in the instant case, about a kg has been peddled among drug peddlers and addicts and about 2 kg remains to be traced, spokesman added.