5 drug peddlers among 7 held in J-K

Seven people, including five alleged drug peddlers, were arrested after police seized large quantity of narcotic substance and illegally transported kerosene oil from their possession in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Three people, including a resident of Punjab, were arrested after the police seized 15 kg of poppy straw during checking in Rehambal area along Jammu-Srinagar national highway, he said.

The police intercepted a vehicle and seized 12 kg of poppy straw. The driver of the vehicle identified as Javed Ahmad Wani and co-passenger Gurdeep Singh, both residents of Baramulla in north Kashmir, were arrested.

Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Jalandhar in Punjab, was arrested on their disclosure and three kg of poppy straw was recovered from his vehicle, the spokesman said, adding that the accused used to sell the narcotic regularly to Kumar.

Another drug peddler identified as Sadiq Hussain was arrested along with 1.5 kgs of charas during checking at Tikri.

One more drug peddler identified as Abhishek Gupta was arrested with four grams of heroin during checking near Sallian Talab, the spokesman said.

He said all the five drug peddlers were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Meanwhile, the police seized 300 litres of kerosene oil from a private vehicle at Roundomail and arrested two people -- Bali Ram and Sanjay Kumar -- in this connection.

A case under various sections of the Essential Commodities Act was registered against the arrested persons, the spokesman added.