From sermons in mosques warning against the dangers of drug abuse to bulldozers tearing down residential and commercial buildings linked to alleged drug peddlers and the publication of “rogue galleries” featuring the photos and names of “traffickers”, the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s 100-day Nasha Mukt Jammu and Kashmir (Drug-free Jammu and Kashmir) campaign has had an eventful first 30 days.
These 30 days, the J&K Police arrested hundreds of alleged drug peddlers and registered as many cases. According to numbers released by the Kashmir Divisional Commissioner, since the launch of the campaign on April 11, the J&K Police arrested 444 alleged drug peddlers in the Kashmir Valley and registered 441 FIRs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the same period.
The figures further revealed that 378 kg of contraband substances have been recovered in the Valley in the first 30 days of the campaign. The government also said it destroyed poppy cultivation in over 165 kanals (a little over 20 acres) of land in the Valley. The highest number of NDPS cases, 108, were registered in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, where police have also seized 22 vehicles and cancelled eight driving licences and vehicle registrations.
“People’s fight against narcotics in Kashmir is being strengthened through coordinated enforcement and community action…,” the Divisional Commissioner said in a post on X, adding, “Kashmir has spoken (that) drugs have no place in our society.”
Over the last 10 days, the J&K government has demolished at least 10 residential and commercial buildings of alleged drug traffickers. Police have also seized assets worth crores.
While the government has taken a tough legal and punitive stand against the people allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the Valley, it has also launched a massive awareness campaign in schools and residential neighbourhoods.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
