Suspected trans-border narco-terror suspect flees NCB custody in Jammu

Aqib Bashir, alleged member of a trans-border narco-terror network, managed to escape from the custody of the Narcotics Control Bureau in Jammu on Sunday night, leading officials to launch an extensive manhunt. The circumstances of his escape remain unclear, according to a police spokesperson. Bashir, who hails from Kakapora in Pulwama district, was arrested on September 3 after NCB agents intercepted a Jammu-bound bus from Punjab at the new bus stand in Samba, seizing 522 grams of heroin.

In a statement on September 5, the bureau claimed it had exposed a twin-route narcotics corridor, one originating from across the Pakistan border and another through the Punjab-Jammu corridor. Following the escape, police and other security forces have heightened frisking and vehicle inspections at major entry and exit points throughout the region. The operation aims to locate Bashir and dismantle the alleged narco-terror module he is linked to.