Army catches drug peddler with Rs 2 cr-worth heroin near LoC

The army has caught a drug peddler with heroin worth Rs 2 crore near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, an officer said on Tuesday.

The Indian Army apprehended Muhammad Kasim with two packets of heroin valued at approximately Rs 2 crore from Bhimber Gali on Monday night, Defence Ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta said.

The 23-year-old Kasim is from Hamirpur village in Balakot in the same district.

Mehta said: "Kasim, under the garb of a cattle herder, had gone to the LoC and received the heroin consignment from a national of Pakistan occupied Kashmir."

"The alert troops of the army challenged and apprehended Kasim," he added.

An FIR has been lodged with Poonch police, Mehta said, adding that search operation of the area and further investigations were on.

"The arrest is a significant blow to the nefarious designs of Pakistani Army in facilitating narco-smuggling to fund terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir," the Defence spokesman said.

--IANS

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