Arms, narcotic smuggling bid foiled along LoC in J&K’s Poonch; three arrested

Jammu, May 31 (PTI) The Army on Wednesday foiled a major attempt to smuggle arms and narcotics by arresting three people after an exchange of fire near the border fence along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

An Army jawan and one of the arrested accused were injured in the firing at forward Karmara village in Gulpur sector in the early hours of the day, they said.

They said troops guarding the border picked up suspicious movement and challenged the persons which led to a gunfight.

The whole area was immediately cordoned off and three people, one of them in an injured condition, were arrested along with a consignment of narcotics and weapons, while an Army jawan was also injured, the officials said.

The officials identified the arrested accused as Mohd Farooq (26), who received a bullet injury in his leg, Mohd Riaz (23) and Mohd Zubair (22), all residents of Karmara.

They are believed to have received the arms and narcotic consignment from across the border and were trying to smuggle it into this side when they were intercepted by the troops, they said.

The seizure made from the arrested persons included an AK assault rifle, two pistols, six grenades, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted inside a pressure cooker and 20 packets of suspected heroin.

The officials said the search operation in the area is still going on when last reports were received, the officials said.