Two from J-K caught with 1.4 kg charas in Mumbai: Police

The police said the duo had been remanded in police custody until October 10. (Representational photo)

The Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai Police caught two persons peddling charas in Kurla on Monday. Officers said both were from Jammu and Kashmir. The police had previously arrested two other Kashmiri men this year distributing the same substance in different parts of the city. The ANC team arrested Heena Kababai (24) and Muzaffar Butt (34) from Vatsalatai Naik Nagar in Kurla and found 1.4 kg charas, valued at Rs 5.25 lakh, in their possession.

A senior police officer said the duo, both from Sopore district of J&K, had flown down to Mumbai while the contraband had been sent to them by train. “They were staying in a lodge nearby and had made rounds distributing drugs. We caught them while they were on their third round distributing charas among local drug peddlers,” said the officer. Shivdeep Lande, Deputy Commissioner of Police, ANC, said the duo had been remanded in police custody until October 10.

In September, the ANC arrested 23-year-old college student Ishfaq Reshi while he was allegedly on his way to distribute charas among local peddlers near Oberoi Mall in Goregaon East. The police had seized 15 kg charas valued at Rs 60 lakh from Reshi’s possession. In July, the ANC had arrested 67-year-old Haji Rehman Shaikh while he was transporting 20 kg of charas worth Rs 83 lakh. The police had also arrested the taxi driver, Irfan Qureshi, who had been driving Shaikh around Mumbai.  Shaikh, who was from Bijbehara town in J&K, had been arrested by the ANC in 2010 too for transporting charas then valued at Rs 31 lakh.