Drugs, militancy and a standoff: Why trade along LoC has come to a halt

Baramulla: The detention of a Pakistani truck driver for smuggling brown sugar into Kashmir is at the centre of a diplomatic spat that has resulted in the governments of India and Pakistan indefinitely suspending trade across the Line of Control in Kashmir. During a surprised raid late on Friday evening, the state police recovered a consignment of the narcotic brown sugar estimated to be worth Rs 100 crore from a truck hailing from Muzaffarabad that was at Salamabad. The delivery was for a local trading corporation based in the Bandipora area of north Kashmir. The state police arrested the driver and seized the truck. They found 144 packets of brown sugar that had been hidden inside gunny bags along with almonds. The truck was being drived by a Pakistani national, identified as Mohammad Shafi from Sarwar, Muzaffarbad. The truck was part of a convoy of 49 trucks that were halted at Salamabad trading point for unloading cargo. A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Prevention) Act was registered against the driver. [caption id=“attachment_1352793” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Pakistani trucks stranded in Salambad trading point in Uri after the Pakistani army refused to allow them to enter Muzaffarabad on Saturday.Shahid Tantray/ Firstpost[/caption] Pakistani authorities retaliated by detaining 27 Indian trucks carrying goods from India to demand the release of the truck and driver, who was being questioned by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Pakistani state agencies could be involved in facilitating the smuggling of the drug, JP Singh, Deputy Inspector General of Police (north Kashmir), told Firstpost. “The money which is being generated from narcotics is mostly used to fund terrorism related activities in the state. As per our investigation, it is suspected that Pakistani agencies are involved in the illicit drug trafficking: no such vehicle can cross the LoC without proper checking unless there is connivance,” Singh said. The seizure comes even as security agencies have been warning the government about the lethargic approach adopted by the police in verifying credentials of the people involved in the trade across the LoC. “We had warned the concerned people previously that many traders were acting as a conduit for funding many militant organizations based in the valley,” an intelligence official based in Srinagar, who did not want to be named, said. The seizure of narcotics is seen as a vindication for these agencies who had warned the government about the possible use of the trade to channel money into terror related activities this year. Traders said they were surprised that the truck with brown sugar was allowed to enter Kashmir by the Pakistani Army, who have to check it in Muzaffarabad. “There is a check post where the security agencies of Pakistan are scanning everything that is sent to Kashmir and we also have the same system,” Asif Lone, a trader, said. However, this isn’t the first time contraband has been recovered by police while it was being smuggled in. On 3 August, 2013 the police in Baramulla recovered cocaine estimated to be worth Rs 10 crore in a raid on a truck coming from across the Line of Control (LoC). The consignment was reportedly meant for an alleged Hizbul Mujahideen operative, who was later arrested from Srinagar. At the time the police had blamed the lack of security arrangements that had led to the vehicle clearing the border. In April 2012, authorities at the Trade Felicitation Centre in Salamabad  seized a huge cache of cigarettes that was illicitly being imported from Muzaffarabad. The seizure of narcotics on Friday is the biggest one since trade between India and Pakistan started along designated trade points in Kashmir. The cross-LoC trade was launched between India and Pakistan by the Manmohan Singh government as one of the major confidence building measures between the two countries. The trade between India and Pakistan of over two dozen listed items, operates for four days a week through Uri in Baramulla district of Kashmir valley and Chakan-Da-Bagh in the Poonch district of Jammu. Trade had been on since 21 October, 2008. But suspensions have been common whenever there has been an escalation of tensions between the two countries. Intelligence officials said that if such a large quantity of contraband reached Uri it couldn’t have taken place without the knowledge of Pakistani authorities. “They (Pakistanis) are trying to use every possible option available to them to keep fomenting trouble in Kashmir this year. It seems that the ISI is using this route to put money into Kashmir to foment trouble in Kashmir in 2014,” an intelligence official told Firstpost on the condition of anonymity. “This brown sugar consignment might have been send to be sold in the markets in Kashmir, and in turn the money generated from that could have been used for militants activities,” the official said. As Kashmir witnesses a sudden surge in violence and with it expected to escalate this year, security agencies are keeping a close track of the activities on the trade route. Authorities don’t have an accurate estimation of how much contraband has already entered Kashmir through the trade route. For the moment the police has detained some people for questioning in connection with brown sugar consignment that has been seized. However, whether they will be able to nab those involved in the smuggling remains to be seen.