JAMMU, July 24: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at nine locations in Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab in connection with a major narco-terror funding racket which was engaged in smuggling of narcotics from the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district of Kashmir Valley and transporting it to Punjab using Jammu – Srinagar National Highway.
Proceeds of the crime generated after sale of narcotics were used to fund terror activities, officials told.
Several incriminating documents and bank account records were recovered and seized. Besides, bank accounts cumulatively having an amount of Rs 49.9 lakh have been frozen, they said.
Kingpins in the racket have been identified as Satnam Singh and Manjit Singh alias Maan of SBS district in Punjab and Safeer Ahmed and Kafeel Ahmed of Karnah in Kupwara district in the Kashmir Valley.
“A total of nine locations were searched by the ED teams in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an ongoing money laundering investigation related to narco-terror funding involving cases registered by Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) and Punjab Police (PP), the officials said.
During investigations, the ED detected that a well-organised and multi-layered narco-terror funding network was operating between Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab involving two kingpins each from Punjab and Kupwara. The Kupwara-based kingpins hailed from a village located near the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan from they were involved in smuggling of narcotics materials.
The ED investigation revealed banking transactions including high-value cash deposits in accounts of Manjit Singh alias Maan and cash deposits in account of Sarabjeet Singh. The searches conducted by the ED, particularly in border/LoC-adjoining areas, against narco-terror funding network, are significant as they target the source-side logistics and local facilitators linked with the cross-border narcotics supply chain, the officials said.
“Heroin consignments were smuggled from Pakistan through Pakistan-based handlers linked with terrorist organization, Hizbul Mujahideen outfit, who coordinated with Safeer and Kafeel for smuggling heroin through Amrohi border/LoC adjoining areas into India,” the officials said, adding in one of the instances, 35 packets of heroin were retrieved, out of which five packets were distributed/ retained locally and 30 packets were concealed in a truck tyre for transportation to Srinagar.
The consignment was delivered in Srinagar to Punjab-based carriers Sarabjit Singh and Honey Basra, who were later intercepted at Banihal in September 2023 with 30 packets weighting about 31 kg heroin. Satnam and Manjit used forged documents, fake vehicle papers, concealed cavities, multiple vehicles and cash transactions to transport and distribute heroin.
As per the officials, multiple other instances were found related to transportation of heroin from Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley to Punjab through an organised network headed by Satnam and Manjit, wherein carriers and transporters were deployed to collect heroin consignments, cumulatively more than 60 kg. The proceeds of crime generated through the sale of narcotics were used to fund terror activities.
Further investigations in the case are going on.
It may be mentioned here that there were several reports about smuggling of narcotics from the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan and its sponsored terror outfits like Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and their further supplies to Punjab and some parts of J&K.
In some of the cases, the proceeds generated from the sale of narcotics are used for funding of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said.
