Drug racket busted in Jammu; 3 arrested

Police on Saturday claimed to have busted aninter-state drug racket here with the arrest of three persons, including the kingpin, a senior official said.

Police on Saturday claimed to have busted aninter-state drug racket here with the arrest of three persons, including the kingpin, a senior official said.

Vikramjeet Singh and Rubal Sharma, residents of Jammu, who police claimed to be the suppliers of the drugs, were arrested from Talab Tilo area here, whereas the kingpin of the racket, Yashjeet, a resident of Damtaal in Himachal Pradesh, was arrested from Lakhanpur along Jammu-Punjab border, police said.

Police, after busting the racket, claimed that some high-profile individuals and the children from some well-to-do families are consumers of the drugs, but said to treat them as "victims".

"Yes, there are some high-profile individuals and the children from some well-to-do families, but they all are the consumers of the drugs. So we treat them as victims," Deputy Inspector General of Police Jammu Kathua range, Shakeel A Beig, said.

Police had initiated investigation into the drug abuse case in Jammu after a girl had died following the overdose of drugs on October 10.

"A girl who had gone with her friends returned home in semi-conscious state. she was admitted to the hospital where she died. It was an apparent case of drug overdose," SSP, Jammu, Uttam Chand told reporters here today.

When asked about the accomplices who dropped the girl home at around 2 am in the morning, the SSP said that the accomplices of the girl too were the consumers of the drugs and "hence they too are being treated as victims", SSP said.

The SSP said that according to call details of the deceased, around 32 individuals from "well-to-do families" were constantly in touch with her and the police questioned them all.

The SSP said that police was still investigating the case and can make further disclosures in the days to come.

Replying to a question that the police was trying to shield the "high-profile" people involved in the narcotic trade in Jammu, the DIG Said "they are themselves the victims."

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