Jammu

Ten alleged drug peddlers, including a resident of Punjab, were arrested along with a large quantity of heroin at separate places in Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua and Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Wednesday.

Gagandeep Singh of Amritsar and his two associates from Jammu -- Damanjot Singh and Vivek Kumar -- were arrested following the busting of a Punjab-based drug network by Gandhi Nagar police here, a spokesperson said.

He said 780 grams of heroin were allegedly recovered from the three hardcore drug peddlers who were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The police arrested two alleged drug peddlers -- Sahil Singh and Kuldeep Kumar -- and recovered 17 grams of heroin from their possession at Miran Sahib area, while another drug peddler Mohd Sharief was apprehended with 13 grams of heroin from Bishnah area in the outskirts of Jammu, the spokesman said.

He said Parvaiz Ahmad and Shakeel Ahmad, both residents of Srinagar, were arrested following the recovery of 19.47 grams and 18.61 grams of heroin during frisking at Phalata and Tikri on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in the Udhampur district.

In another successful operation in the Kathua district, the spokesman said an absconding drug peddler, Farman Ali, was arrested from Marheen area and seven grams of heroin were recovered from him.

Ali is the fourth drug peddler arrested by the police after the busting of a Punjab-based network run by his brother Gulzar Ahmad, leading to the total recovery of 369 grams of heroin and Rs one lakh cash, which were found hidden in the premises of a school, on the disclosure of Ahmad recently.

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Nimpal Kumar was also arrested after 85 grams of heroin was seized from him during frisking at Chinar Morh in Doda district, the spokesman said.