Drug peddler instrumental in narco terror module escapes NCB custody, manhunt launched
JAMMU, September 7:
A drug peddler, , who was instrunental in a trans-border narco-terror module operting from Pakistan, escaped from the custody of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Jammu late Sunday, prompting NCB and other security agencies to launch a manhunt to nab him, said officials on Monday.
The accused has been identified as Aqib Bashir, a resident of Kakapora in Pulwama district.
“An alert has been sounded and various teams have been fanned out in different directions to nab him,” said an NCB official.
Bashir, considered a prized catch , was arrested on September 3 from a passenger bus at New Bus Stand in Samba district with 522 grams of high quality heroin valued over Rs 2 to 3 crores in the international market.
Bashir reportedly escaped from NCB custody at Narwal during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, prompting security agencies to immediately step up efforts to trace and apprehend him.
Aqib Bashir had been acting as a carrier for the contraband, which was being smuggled from Pakistan via Uri in Baramulla and some times from Punjab border.
Police and other security agencies have intensified frisking and vehicle checks at key entry and exit points.
Officials are also ascertaining the circumstances under which the accused managed to escape from custody.
Bashir’s arrest was part of an intensive month-long NCB operation in Jammu division that, according to officials, exposed two routes allegedly being used by narcotics smugglers to bring heroin into Jammu and Kashmir—directly from Pakistan through the Uri sector and indirectly through Punjab.
In four interceptions carried out during the operation, along with a linked recovery in Punjab, the NCB seized a cumulative 6.920 kg of heroin and arrested six accused persons.
On September 5, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) claimed that it uncovered two active heroin supply routes from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir—one directly through the Uri sector in Baramulla district and another indirectly via Punjab.
The NCB stated that the two operations targeted vulnerable, drug-affected bastis (clusters) in the Jammu-Samba belt, where traffickers exploit local populations.