220 Drug Hotspots Mapped In J&K

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- Jammu and Kashmir's intensified crackdown on narcotics has led to the registration of 1,032 NDPS cases and the arrest of 1,416 individuals so far in 2025, senior officials revealed during the 14th UT-level Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo on Thursday.

The high-level meeting, convened to review the UT's anti-narcotics strategy, was attended by top civil and police officials, including the Director General of Police, Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Home), ADGP CID, and other senior officers. Deputy Commissioners and SSPs from across the UT joined the session virtually.

A key highlight of the meeting was the identification of 220 drug hotspots across Jammu and Kashmir, including 20 newly flagged areas. Officials reported that 33 hotspots have been dismantled, leading to 413 arrests from these high-risk zones. These hotspots have emerged as concentrated pockets of drug activity, prompting intensified surveillance and enforcement measures.

In addition to arrests, enforcement agencies reported the seizure of 1,388 kilograms of narcotic substances and more than 62,000 psychotropic tablets in the ongoing year. Authorities have also frozen or confiscated assets worth Rs 39 crore, including 35 buildings and 13 vehicles directly linked to the drug trade. Relevant entries have been made in revenue records to formalize these actions.

The Chief Secretary directed the Police Department to submit monthly status reports on NDPS cases, detailing progress in investigation, prosecution, and the age and stage of each pending case. He also ordered an audit of long-pending cases to identify reasons for delay and initiate timely corrective measures.

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To ensure accountability, Dulloo further instructed that all bail and acquittal cases under the NDPS Act should be jointly reviewed by the Law and Police Departments to spot any lapses in investigation or prosecution.

On the de-addiction front, the Chief Secretary asked the Health Department to strengthen in-patient treatment services in Government Medical Colleges and District Hospitals, reducing reliance on private facilities. He also called for capacity building at IMHANS to improve outreach and treatment access.

Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat highlighted the need for pooled manpower and resources to intensify the crackdown on narcotics. He flagged the misuse of courier services for trafficking Schedule-I drugs and called for stricter monitoring mechanisms.

Presenting an overview of the NCORD portal data, Principal Secretary (Home) Chandrakar Bharti urged DCs and SSPs to regularly convene district-level NCORD meetings, upload agendas, minutes, and action reports, and maintain transparency in enforcement outcomes.

Inspector General, Crime, Sujit Kumar, shared that 181 cases had been registered under the PIT-NDPS Act, resulting in the detention of 58 high-profile drug traffickers through detailed backward and forward link investigations.

To improve prosecution outcomes, over 2,150 Investigating Officers have been trained across 247 dedicated sessions in modern techniques for handling NDPS cases.

The meeting also discussed awareness campaigns and inter-departmental IEC activities to tackle substance abuse. Officials said that technology-driven solutions like Aadhaar-linked prescription monitoring and dedicated drug tracking portals were being developed with support from BISAG-N to curb misuse of prescription drugs.

Reaffirming the administration's zero-tolerance policy against drug trafficking, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo called for a coordinated, data-driven and multi-pronged approach to eliminate the drug menace from the Union Territory.

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