J-K: 1,700 kg poppy straw seized from Punjab-bound truck, two held

The Jammu and Kashmir Police seized 1,700 kilogram of poppy straw from a Punjab-bound truck here and arrested its driver and conductor, officials said on Saturday.

The truck, coming from the Kashmir valley, was intercepted on the highway near Channi on the outskirts of Jammu Friday evening, leading to the seizure of the huge quantity of the contraband which was concealed in 193 apple boxes, a police spokesman said.

He said the driver of the truck, Deedar Singh, and his helper, Manpreet, both residents of Ludhiana, were arrested for trying to smuggle the poppy straw from the valley to Punjab.

They were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he added.

In a separate case, the spokesman said, an alleged drug peddler, Mohammad Naseer, a resident of Thana Mandi, was arersted after 4.8 gram of heroin was seized from him during vehicle checking at Potha in Poonch district on Friday.

A case under the NDPS Act was registered against the arrested peddler and investigation started to ascertain the source and other persons involved in smuggling of the narcotic substance, he said.