Saturday, 12 August 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) recovered 537 grammes of smack worth about Rs 55 lakh from a man in Udham Singh Nagar’s Pulbhatta area which is the highest recovery of the year in the State. The accused identified as Mushtaq had reportedly bought smack from Uttar Pradesh at a cheap price from a man named Akbar to sell it at high prices in Rudrapur, Kichha, Sitarganj, Khatima and Tanakpur areas of the district.
The drug smuggler was on STF’s radar for the past one week and was finally nabbed in a joint operation of STF’s Kumaon unit of Anti Narcotics Task Force and local police late on Thursday, said the senior superintendent of police, STF, Ayush Agrawal. He said that the operation was conducted under the leadership of circle officer of Kumaon STF, Sumit Pandey and ANTF’s in-charge Pawan Swaroop. The authorities are investigating him to get more evidence on the matter and will take further action accordingly.
The STF has registered a case against him at Pulbhatta police station under section 8/18 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The SSP said that the drug mafia of UP supplies illegal drugs to those areas of the State which are adjacent to the border. They supply drugs to small dealers here who further supply it across the State and that is how their whole drug network runs. He said that this is the biggest recoveries of smack this year and the STF is actively working to destroy such networks.
He also appealed to locals to inform authorities to provide any information regarding illegal drugs or smugglers by approaching the nearest police station or contacting STF at 01352656202 and 9412029536.
