SAMBA: Questioning of a man arrested in a counterfeit currency case has led to the seizure of cocaine worth over ₹19 crore in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district, police said on Monday.
The breakthrough came after a written complaint was lodged on February 3 at Bari Brahmana police station by a branch manager of Punjab National Bank, alleging that Dil Mohammad, a resident of Digiana Ashram, had deposited fake currency notes with a face value of ₹9,000.
Following the complaint, police registered an FIR under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and launched an investigation. During scrutiny of the accused’s bank accounts, investigators found balances of around ₹18 lakh in a J&K Bank account and ₹2.40 lakh in a PNB account, raising suspicion as the accused was working as a driver.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Samba, to trace the source of the funds. During sustained questioning, the accused, presently residing in the Jalalabad area of Sunjwan, disclosed his involvement in drug trafficking and admitted to selling cocaine for a prolonged period.
Acting on his disclosure, police recovered two packets of cocaine weighing approximately 1,937.80 grams from a garage at his workplace in Bari Brahmana. The contraband was concealed in cardboard boxes wrapped with cello tape. The seized cocaine is estimated to be worth over ₹19 crore in the international market.
Relevant sections of the NDPS Act have been added to the case, and further arrests and recoveries are expected as the investigation progresses.
Meanwhile, in a separate operation, police arrested two drug peddlers and recovered about 55 grams of heroin during a vehicle-checking drive at Chenani in Udhampur district. The accused were intercepted while travelling from Jammu to Srinagar in a car, leading to the recovery of the narcotic substance.
