Mystery shrouds the recovery of unclaimed packets of charas from the west coast of Kutch by the Narcotics Bureau and the Kutch police.
Mystery shrouds the recovery of unclaimed packets of charas from the west coast of Kutch by the Narcotics Bureau and the Kutch police in several operations in the last two months. With the Kutch police stumbling upon 10 packets of charas, each weighing 1 kg, in islands in the mouth of Kori creek on Monday, as much as 21 kg of charas has been recovered in these operations.
Earlier, 11 kg charas was found by the Narcotics Bureau in three operations - on August 13 and 26, and on September 11- between coastal villages of Movani vandh and Limbdi vandh (vandh means a hamlet) near the fishing port of Jakhau.
"The charas packets had no markings and were found scattered in three islands we visited in the mouth of Kori creek. They appear to have been abandoned by unscrupulous elements in the sea for some unknown reasons and washed ashore on these islands. We had also found some such packets in our operation in June last. The packets seized by another agency had also come to sea shore in a similar manner," DG Vaghela, Nakhatrana-based Dy SP heading the western Kutch division of Kutch police told this paper on Tuesday.
He said the matter was being investigated by the circle police inspector of Nakhatrana and samples of the seized material were being sent for forensic test. To a query whether it was being smuggled into India from Pakistan, which was now a hub of drugs because of its porous border with poppy-producing Afghanistan, he said there was nothing on record to confirm or deny this. He, however, denied that Kutch was being used as a transit route for smuggling of drugs in this country.
Security experts, however, said that in the past the maritime border in western Kutch, specially areas surrounding Jakhau, were extensively used for smuggling of narcotics, RDX and arms and ammunition. Frequent recovery of drugs from this area showed that
Pakistan-based anti-Indian elements might have taken to sale of drugs to raise funds for their nefarious activities in this country. They cited in this regard reports that the student community in Gujarat and neighbouring states were increasingly using drugs.
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