SIA Says It Arrested Kingpin of Cross-Border Narco-Terror Module from Mumbai Airport

SRINAGAR: In a major breakthrough in Jammu Kashmir’s fight against narco-terrorism, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Saturday said it had arrested the alleged kingpin of a cross-border narco-terror module from Mumbai airport.

According to officials, the accused, Mohammad Arshad alias Asif, a resident of Degwar-Terwan village in Poonch, had been absconding since 2023 and was operating from Saudi Arabia. “He was the main handler and a crucial link between Pakistan-based operatives and local modules in Jammu and Kashmir,” an SIA spokesperson said in a statement.

The arrest follows a year-and-a-half-long investigation into a case registered in May 2023 after credible inputs indicated the presence of a narco-terror network in the Pir Panjal region. During a joint Police-Army operation on the intervening night of May 30 and 31, 2023, an encounter broke out, leading to the arrest of four terrorists and the recovery of a large cache of arms, ammunition, and narcotics.

The seized items included 29 kilograms of heroin, an improvised explosive device (IED), six hand grenades, an AK-56 rifle with 70 rounds, and four pistols, officials said.

The probe later revealed that eight people were involved in the module, of whom two, Arshad and his associate Laquit Ahmed, had fled the country. Ahmed, who escaped to Dubai after the Pir Panjal operation, was arrested by SIA Jammu earlier this year at Ahmedabad airport.

Officials said Arshad had facilitated Ahmed’s travel to Dubai and organised a clandestine meeting in Surankote to revive terrorism and narco-terror activities in the Pir Panjal region under his supervision. SIA Jammu had subsequently issued a Look-Out Circular and a non-bailable warrant against him in 2023.

Arshad was taken into custody on a three-day transit remand from Mumbai and will be produced before the competent court, the agency said, calling his arrest “a significant success in dismantling cross-border terror-financing and narcotics smuggling networks”.