Escaped narco-terror operative rearrested in Jalandhar after inter-state manhunt

NCB, J&K, and Punjab Police track down fugitive Aqib Bashir three days after he altered his appearance and fled custody.

Jammu: A joint operation by the Narcotics Control Bureau, J&K Police, and Punjab Police led to the re-arrest of notorious drug peddler Aqib Bashir in Jalandhar, three days after he escaped NCB custody in Jammu.

Following his escape, drug peddler Aqib Bashir initially hid in a forest area near the Narwal Fruit Mandi, clean-shaved his beard, changed his clothes, and altered his appearance to evade detection.

Originally apprehended on September 3 in Samba district with 522 grams of heroin, Bashir—a resident of Kakapora in Pulwama district—escaped from NCB custody in Narwal on the night of September 6.

Following his escape, Bashir initially hid in a forest area near the Narwal Fruit Mandi, clean-shaved his beard, changed his clothes, and altered his appearance to evade detection.

He subsequently travelled via Pathankot to Jalandhar, where he used local contacts for shelter.

Continuous intelligence sharing and field tracking enabled search teams to narrow down his location and arrest him as he prepared to flee to Delhi or another state.

Officials confirmed Bashir’s arrest is part of a broader month-long NCB operation targeting trans-border narco-terror modules pushing Pakistani heroin into Jammu and Kashmir directly via the Uri sector and indirectly through Punjab, which has so far resulted in six arrests and the seizure of 6.920 kg of heroin.