Three years after creation, anti-drugs task force in J&K secures first conviction
On Friday, a special NIA court in Kupwara awarded a sentence of ten years as well as a fine of Rs 1 lakh to two accused persons, Mohammad Shafi Lone and Bilal Ahmad Dar, who had been nabbed in December 2020 with 435 gm and 372 gm of heroin respectively.
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On Friday, a special NIA court in Kupwara awarded a sentence of ten years as well as a fine of Rs 1 lakh to two accused persons, Mohammad Shafi Lone and Bilal Ahmad Dar, who had been nabbed in December 2020 with 435 gm and 372 gm of heroin respectively.
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Three years after it was constituted in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force has secured its first conviction in a drugs case.
On Friday, a special NIA court in Kupwara awarded a sentence of ten years as well as a fine of Rs 1 lakh to two accused persons, Mohammad Shafi Lone and Bilal Ahmad Dar, who had been nabbed in December 2020 with 435 gm and 372 gm of heroin respectively.
The task force was created in Jammu and Kashmir in May 2020 as the former state took shape as a Union Territory. This case was the first to be challaned in court.
Security officials in Jammu and Kashmir have reiterated concerns over the burgeoning drug use in the Union Territory. Most recently, General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 corps, Lieutenant General ADS Aujla, had said: “This is a matter of concern. There is a fair amount of this business (drugs) that is in certain pockets. We have to put many-a-things together to ensure that it gets terminated.”
On Friday, while pronouncing the sentence against the accused, Sessions Judge Khem Raj Sharma pointed to the increase in drug use in J&K. The order states: “The main sufferer of this menace is younger generation of society and due to this menace, the life of younger generation is being put on the peril of destruction thereby effecting not only the individual families but the society in large.”
The judgement also notes that in order to safeguard the future of the youth “from destruction. the easy availability of drugs including supply thereof at doorsteps, is to be curbed with an iron hand.”
The court sentenced Lone and Dar to rigorous imprisonment of 10 years and fine of Rs. 1 Lakh to both. In case of default in payment of fine, “the accused persons shall undergo further sentence of rigorous imprisonment of 2.5 years.”
Abdul Rashid Dar, the prosecutor in the case, told The Indian Express: “The crime rate is influenced by deterrence in an inverse manner. When the punishment for criminal acts is severe, it discourages individuals from engaging in illegal activities, especially in cases of heinous crimes with significant societal consequences.”
Terming the conviction “groundbreaking,” Rashid said that the recent order sends a strong message “to both local and external drug mafias and their supporters. It will make it more challenging for drug dealers to lure and exploit addicts.”
In December 2020, both accused were found with 435 gm and 372 gm of heroin respectively. The chargesheet against them was produced in May 2021 and sentence pronounced on Friday.
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