SRINAGAR: A Kashmir court has turned down the bail application of five soldiers who were arrested in a drug peddling case, NDTV reported. The court ruled that their detention is required to lay hands on other accused.
The five soldiers were operating the drug-peddling gang while being posted at Panzgam in Kupwara. They were arrested last month and accused for running the drug cartel from Tangdhar, a border town located on the Line of Control (LoC).
The bail application was moved before the Additional district and sessions judge, Kupwara, who rejected the plea. The court observed that soldiers were supposed to protect society but regretted this bunch worked in contravention of it.
“According to the police, drugs were coming from Pakistan through Tangdhar sector and five soldiers posted in Panzgam area of Kupwara were involved in drug trafficking,” the NDTV report said, identifying the accused soldiers as Naib-Subedar Puran Singh, Anil Kumar (driver) Sepoy Sushil Kumar, Naik Waseem Ahmad Mir and Mohammad Shafiq Khan.
The soldiers apparently were working with four civilians who were identified as Mashkoor Sheikh (working as a porter with Army), Mohammad Yousaf Kothari, Saleem Sheikh and Mohammad Imran Teli.
This is the second time in the last two months that security personnel have been arrested for drug smuggling from the Line of Control in Kupwara district.
The report said that federal investigator, NIA arrested a BSF officer posted in Handwara – also part of the frontier Kupwara district, “on charges of cross-border drug smuggling linked with the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist group”. Identified as Romesh Kumar, report said Rs 91 lakh cash was recovered from Kumar.
