As Kashmir valley has seen a 2,000% spike in Heroin abuse cases in the last five years, Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbagh Singh Sundy termed narco-terrorism as the biggest challenge from Pakistan.
“Even though police is dealing with narco-terrorism effectively by busting modules involved in it, a lot more needs to be done on this front,” he said while addressing a passing-out-cum attestation parade of new recruits at Police Training Centre (PTC) Manigam in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
“Our neighbour (Pakistan) is not happy with the peaceful atmosphere in J&K and wants to promote narco-terrorism by luring the youth towards drugs and using the money earned out of narco-sale to fuel terrorism,” the police chief said.
Singh said that drones were being sent from across the border to air-drop narcotics and weapons. “Police and other security agencies have succeeded in curbing this menace. A lot more needs to be done to stop the narco-terrorism in J&K as it remains a big challenge,” he said.
A portion of the drugs coming from Pakistan is sold in Kashmir, and the rest is transported to other parts of India. The continuous flow of narcotics, especially Heroin from across the border in recent years, has not even left the woman untouched. In a worrying trend, experts suggest, that “one-third” of the victims of drug abuse in Kashmir are women.
In 2016, the Oral Substitution Therapy (OST) Centre at the Government Medical College in Srinagar reported only 489 cases, which grew to 3,000 in 2017. In 2019, the number climbed to 7,000 and crossed the 10,000 mark in 2021 with an overall 2,000% spike in the last five years.
Law enforcement agencies in Kashmir are unanimous in their conclusion that for the purposes of terrorist financing, Pakistan-based terror groups are now resorting to sending narcotics into the region. One kilogram of Heroin originating in Afghanistan, coming via Pakistan costs approximately Rs 5 lakh in South Asia and fetches nearly Rs 5 crore in the international market.