In a significant development, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) has apprehended the accused who had been on the run since the May 30 narco-smuggling case in Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh.
The SIA official stated that the key accused, Mohamnad Iqbal, who was wanted in Narco terror FIR 69/23 PS Poonch, had been apprehended by SIA in Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh. He added that on May 30, 2023, four members of a narco-terror module attempted to smuggle drugs and explosives across the border fence at Poonch.
The accused were intercepted by the Army, resulting in an exchange of fire in which one soldier and one terrorist were injured. The accused were immediately apprehended with war-like stores of arms, ammunition, IEDs, and heroin. The case was transferred to SIA Jammu for investigation on July 6, 2023.
“The investigation revealed that one of the four accused, Mohammad Iqbal, a resident of Karmara, Poonch, had fled the scene. Technical surveillance and human intelligence led to his location in Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh, where a team of SIA led by Inspector Lakhvir was dispatched and apprehended the accused,” he said.
It is noteworthy that on August 19, the handler of the group, Mohammad Javed, who was also on the run, was apprehended by SIA Jammu in an operation in Delhi. This led to the arrest of another co-conspirator, Mohammad Liyaqat, on August 25, 2023 by SIA Jammu from Poonch.
The investigation has revealed the involvement of handlers operating this narco-terror module from foreign countries. So far, six arrests have been made in the case, and forward and backward linkages of the narco-terror module are being established.
Further investigation into aspects of the cross-border operation of this narco-terror syndicate, which is found to be smuggling arms, explosives, and narcotics consignments across the border, is ongoing at SIA Jammu. Additionally, aspects of amassing disproportionate wealth in short periods of time, as seen in the instant case, are being investigated, said an official.
The SIA team involved in the arrest was under the overall supervision of DySP Rafiq Manhas with Inspector Lakhvir, Inspector Vinod, ASI Deepak Bhat, KC Kanhaya Lal, SgCt Gurjeet Singh, and SgCt Susheel Kumar.
