SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Police have uncovered a conspiracy in which a lover of a woman plotted to frame the husband of his former girlfriend in a narcotics case by sending a parcel containing drugs to his home in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district from UP.
The case came to light after police received information about a suspected drug consignment being delivered to a poultry farmer in Safapora area of Ganderbal through a courier service.
Acting on the inputs, a police team intercepted the parcel at Post Office Safapora in Ganderbal on August 8 and opened it as per procedure in the presence of the Executive Magistrate, FSL and Crime teams along with a sniffer dog squad, a police official said.
He said the contraband was seized and samples forwarded for confirmatory analysis which confirmed it as approximately 4 kg cocaine-mixed powder, 80 grams charas and psychotropic tablets.
The poultry farmer, who had to receive the package, was arrested by police under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He, however, pleaded innocence and denied any information about the drugs and told police he was expecting a feed for chicken from the courier.
The drug case, however, took an unexpected turn during the investigation.
Police said during the investigation, it was found that the poultry farmer had married only a few months back and had no previous criminal record.
Police conducted a background check of the poultry farmer and his wife and also checked their call details.
During the investigation, police found that the poultry farmer had received calls and messages from a Saudi Arabia-based phone number.
During questioning, he told police that the same number had earlier contacted him and warned him against marrying the woman.
It raised police suspicion and investigators subsequently questioned his wife and checked in detail her call records.
According to police, her statement and call detail records helped them unravel the alleged conspiracy.
“The investigators came to know that the woman had a boyfriend before marriage and was still in contact with it. It led to the arrest of the woman's lover Tariq Ahmad Sofi, a resident of Zainakote in outskirts of Srinagar, for questioning” police said.
According to police, Tariq, who had been in a relationship with the woman before her marriage, confessed his involvement in the conspiracy to implicate her husband in a false drug case.
“Tariq sought help from his friend Areeb, based in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, to arrange the shipment. It is being suspected that the parcel containing drugs was first sent to Kanpur from Kashmir by Tariq before being dispatched to the poultry farmer’s address at Safapora in Ganderbal,” police sources said.
The police investigators are now examining the role of Areeb.
“The police are in touch with UP police and are also trying to connect dots to establish from how long (Areeb) knew the accused Tariq and whether he was aware that a parcel containing narcotics was being sent to a poultry farmer under a conspiracy,” police said.
According to police, the woman had remained in contact with her boyfriend even after her marriage and her call records clearly state it.
The investigators suspect that the plan may have been to keep the poultry farmer entangled in legal proceedings under the NDPS Act to give space to the former lovers to continue their relationship without facing opposition.
"Further investigation is underway to establish the complete network, source of the narcotics and the role of other persons involved. Further arrests and disclosures are expected," police added.
