Kashmir Impulse Desk

Jammu, July 17

Police on Friday attached properties worth about Rs 1.4 crore belonging to an alleged drug trafficker from the northern state of Punjab, in the latest action under J&K’s campaign against narcotics networks.

The assets, belonging to Sharif, a resident of Amritsar district in Punjab, were attached under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after investigators concluded they had been acquired through proceeds generated from illicit drug trafficking, police said.

The attached assets include a residential house, 1 kanal and 8 marlas of land and a Swift passenger car, according to a police statement.

The action is linked to a narcotics case registered at Majalta police station in Udhampur district under the NDPS Act. Investigators said financial inquiries conducted during the investigation established that the properties were purchased using income derived from the illegal narcotics trade.

Police said the attachment was carried out under Section 68F of the NDPS Act, which empowers authorities to provisionally seize properties believed to have been acquired through proceeds of drug trafficking pending further legal proceedings. The attachment does not amount to a final confiscation, which is subject to adjudication under the law.

The move forms part of Jammu and Kashmir Police’s ongoing “Nasha Mukt Jammu and Kashmir Abhiyaan”, a broader campaign aimed at dismantling drug trafficking networks by targeting not only narcotics seizures and arrests but also the financial assets allegedly generated through the illicit trade.

Law enforcement agencies across India have increasingly relied on provisions of the NDPS Act to freeze and attach properties suspected to have been purchased using proceeds from drug trafficking, arguing that disrupting the financial infrastructure of criminal networks is as important as intercepting narcotics consignments.

Police said further legal proceedings in the case were underway.