Jammu: A key drug peddler, part of a larger trans-border narco-terror module, escaped from the custody of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Jammu late on Sunday night, prompting security agencies to launch a search across the region.
The accused, identified as Aquib Bashir of Kakapora in Pulwama district, was dubbed a prized catch by investigators after his arrest on September 3 from a passenger bus at Samba’s New Bus Stand. Officers had seized 522 grams of high-quality heroin worth over ₹2 crore in the international market from him.
Bashir slipped away during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday from the NCB headquarters in Narwal, an area dominated by automobile repair workshops. Security agencies immediately launched efforts to trace him, placing key entry and exit points under high alert, while police intensified vehicle checks and frisking.
Officials are probing the circumstances surrounding his escape, with one officer candidly acknowledging it as a glaring security lapse.
Bashir operated as a crucial carrier for contraband smuggled from Pakistan through the Uri sector in Baramulla, as well as via the Punjab border.
His arrest was part of an intensive month-long NCB operation across Jammu division that exposed two active supply routes exploited by traffickers to feed vulnerable bastis (clusters) in the Jammu-Samba belt.
The broader crackdown resulted in four interceptions, a linked recovery in Punjab, the seizure of 6.920 kg of heroin, and the arrest of six individuals.
