Woman among five drug peddlers arrested

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 23: Five alleged drug peddlers, including a woman, were arrested in separate incidents and huge quantities of contraband were recovered from them, police said today.
Four drug peddlers were arrested in two separate instances in Kulgam district of south Kashmir and about 137 kg of drugs were seized, a police spokesman said.
Officers at a checkpoint in the jurisdiction of Qazigund police station intercepted an oil tanker bearing Punjab registration number with two persons on board.
Upon checking, the officers were able to recover 125 kg of poppy straw concealed inside 10 bags from the oil tanker, the spokesman said.
In another action against drug dealings, the spokesman said, police officers intercepted a vehicle at Jawahar Tunnel with two persons on board.
When they searched the vehicle, 12 kg of poppy straw was recovered from the vehicle, he said.
All four men have been kept in custody in Qazigund police station and both the vehicles have also been seized, the spokesman said.
In a separate incident in Ganderbal district in central Kashmir, police arrested a woman who was allegedly peddling drugs.
The spokesman said officers from Kangan police station acted on specific information and raided a shop run by a lady in Bonibagh area where they recovered 400 grams of charas and around Rs 4.2 lakh cash believed to be the proceeds of narcotic crime.
The accused woman has been arrested for drug related offences, he said, adding that a case has been registered following which she was shifted to Women Police Cell in Ganderbal where she remains in custody.
Initial investigation into the case revealed that the woman was peddling drugs to the youth of the area under the garb of running a local shop, the spokesman said.