New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) The NIA on Friday chargesheeted an accused in a 2020 case relating to seizure of 17 kgs of heroin and cash in Jammu and Kashmir.

Syed Saleem Jahangir Andrabi alias Saleem Andrabi has been named in a third supplementary chargesheet filed by the NIA before the agency's special court in Jammu.

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Andrabi, a resident of Kupwara district, evaded arrest for four years before he was nabbed in July 2024.

A total of 16 people have so far been chargesheeted in the case, in which investigation still continues.

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Handwara police had registered the case originally in June 2020 when, during checking of vehicles on Kairo Bridge, one Abdul Momin Peer was intercepted while coming from Baramulla in his Hyundai Creta car, it said.

A search of the vehicle had led to the seizure of around Rs 2 crore in cash and 2 kgs of heroin.

Peer's questioning had led to further recovery of 15 kg of heroin and Rs 1.15 crore in cash, the statement said.

NIA, which had taken over the case in June 2020, found during investigation that Andrabi was part of a deep-rooted conspiracy related to procuring and selling of narcotics and generating funds in J-K and other parts of India.

He was working in close association with operatives of Pak-based banned terrorist outfits LeT and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), it said.

The funds so generated were used for furtherance of terrorist activity in J&K through a network of over ground workers, as per the NIA investigations.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)