Police on Saturday said that in a measure to curb the menace of drug related crimes, it has dismantled a well-orchestrated criminal conspiracy involving the planting of narcotics, leading to the arrest of four individuals under the NDPS Act.
The police said that the operation, which unfolded over the past week, began with a tip-off on 24/02/2025, and has exposed a calculated plot driven by greed and revenge. The case originated when advocate Yusha Yousuf Mir, a resident of Bakshipora Noorbagh, Srinagar, contacted Police Station Shaheed Gunj with information about a suspicious vehicle bearing registration number JK01AX-8467. According to the complainant, the vehicle was being parked daily near OASIS School in Karan Nagar, raising suspicion.
Acting swiftly, Srinagar Police along with concerned Magistrate, raided the location to find the vehicle parked as reported. The owner, identified as Manzoor Ahmad Bhat son of the late Ghulam Mohd Bhat from Astan Mohalla, Natipora, Srinagar, was contacted through the phone number displayed on the vehicle, and he was directed to present himself at the scene.
In the presence of the magistrate, a preliminary search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 452 grams of the charas-like substance. Consequently, case vide FIR No. 05/2025 under NDPS Act was registered in PS Shaheed Gung. The vehicle was seized and the owner was arrested.
However, what initially appeared to be a straightforward drug trafficking case soon unravelled into a deeper conspiracy.
Further investigation revealed that Manzoor Ahmad had been deliberately targeted by a group of five individuals motivated by a financial dispute. The investigation established that some days days prior to the incident, Mohd Shafi Badyari, a resident of Touheed Colony, Natipora, had borrowed the vehicle from him under false pretence. Mohd Shafi along with accomplices Toufeeq Ali from Safakadal and Arshid Ahmad Wani from Pamposh Colony, Natipora, transported the vehicle to Natipora, where they planted the contraband substance in the vehicle. Mohd Shafi then returned the vehicle to Manzoor Ahmad at Karan Nagar, setting the stage for the trap.
Following this, Mohd Shafi allegedly tipped off the complainant, who in turn informed the Police, initiating the chain of events that led to Manzoor Ahmad’s arrest.
Digging deeper, the investigating team uncovered that the conspiracy had been in motion for months, orchestrated by Mohd Shafi, along with his accomplices. The motive stemmed from a land deal in Hyderpora, where Manzoor Ahmad had entrusted the group with money to purchase property. Instead of fulfilling the transaction, the conspirators sought to eliminate him by framing him in a drug case, thereby securing his funds for themselves.
The contraband substance used in the plot was procured months earlier through one Zahoor Ahmad Mir and stored at Rouf Ahmad Mir’s shop in Rambagh, Srinagar.
On 26/02/2025, four of the accused persons namely Mohd Shafi Badyari, Arshid Ahmad Wani, Toufeeq Ali and Rouf Ahmad Mir were apprehended. The disclosure of the accused persons led to additional recoveries of contraband, thereby, further solidifying the case.
Efforts to locate and arrest Zahoor Ahmad Mir remain ongoing while the accused persons have been arrested in the instant case. Pertinently, relevant sections of BNS have also been invoked in the case.
More arrests in the case are expected, reads the statement.
