URI: Police has claimed to have seized a big haul of brown sugar valued at over Rs 100 crore during cross LoC trade on Friday.
According to sources, police found 114 packets of suspicious material believed to be brown sugar, weighing almost a kilogram each, from a truck coming from Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK) during routine checking at Salamabad transit point.
The packets were discovered hidden in a consignment of almonds meant for a trader from Bandipora, sources added.
The truck stand was cordoned off and no one was allowed to move outside the premises. Senior officials of police, crime branch and Intelligence Agencies reached the spot.
The station house officer, Uri police station Mohammad Abdullah said that an expert team has been called to ascertain the composition of the seized material. The custodian of Salamabad trade centre also confirmed the reports.
The value of seized consignment is estimated at about Rs 114 Crore in the international market, police said.
The police has also held up all the remaining 48 trucks from PaK and would be allowed for respective destinations only after through checking, sources added.
He said that as part of the trade, while 49 trucks arrived from PAK, 27 left from this part of Kashmir to PaK today.
Trader bodies have taken serious note of the incident.
General Secretary Salamabad-Uri trade Hilal Turkie said that the incident must be condemned at every level and the same has brought bad name to the cross LOC trade at large.
Stern punishment should be given to the people involved in such heinous crime and we demand that a scanner be installed at the Kaman Post so that no such action could be repeated in future.
Former president of Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir Shakeel Qalander described the incident as serious.
Drug addiction is serious issue among our youth, and now using the LoC route for drug trafficking is very serious. I dont understand how this route can be used when there is heavy scanning of all the consignments Qalander told Kashmir Observer.
Stating that the incident was an isolated one, Qalander expressed hope that the incident will not have bearing on overall Cross LoC trade.
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