Tauseef Ahmad
Bandipora, May 25: Declaring that there will be “no safe space for drug peddlers in Jammu and Kashmir,” Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said the administration’s anti-drug campaign has already shown significant results within just 45 days, with nearly 800 FIRs registered and around 950 drug peddlers arrested across the Union Territory.
The remarks came during a massive “Nasha Mukt Jammu Kashmir” padyatra in Bandipora, where thousands of students, youth volunteers, traders, women’s groups and civil society members marched together against drug abuse and narco-terrorism.
Addressing the gathering, Sinha said the campaign would continue until every drug peddler is sent behind bars. He termed narcotics and narco-terrorism among the biggest threats facing Jammu and Kashmir and said money generated through drug trafficking is being used to fuel terrorism in the region.“The money earned from narcotics is going to terrorists.
This is one of the biggest threats to Jammu and Kashmir. We will not allow this land to walk on the agenda of terrorists,” he said, adding that security forces and law enforcement agencies are committed to eradicating the drug menace from Kashmir.The Lieutenant Governor said authorities have intensified the crackdown on narcotics networks by booking 59 accused under the PIT-NDPS Act and attaching properties created through “black money” earned from drug trafficking.
He said the administration has also suggested to suspended 457 driving licences, recommended cancellation of 116 passports and initiated proceedings to cancel registration of 606 vehicles allegedly linked to drug-related activities.“Every drug peddler is being searched and arrested. Those who destroyed the future of our children will not find any safe space in Jammu and Kashmir,” Sinha said.
Calling the campaign a “new ray of hope” for Kashmir, he said nearly 3,000 youth clubs have been established across Jammu and Kashmir to engage young people in constructive and community-based activities and protect them from addiction.The anti-drug drive, launched earlier this year, has emerged as one of the administration’s largest social campaigns, combining law enforcement, rehabilitation and public participation to tackle the growing challenge of substance abuse in the Valley.
