Four suspected narcotic smugglers, including three Punjab residents, were arrested after 133 kgs of poppy straw was recovered from three trucks at different places along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur and Ramban districts, police said on Tuesday. A Punjab-bound truck, coming from the Kashmir valley, was intercepted at Jakhani Tuesday morning and subjected to checking which led to the recovery of 60 kgs of poppy straw, Senior Superintendent of Police, Udhampur, Rajiv Pandey said. He said the driver, Yoga Singh, and a co-passenger, Lucky Singh, both residents of Amritsar, were arrested and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. A police spokesman said 47 kgs of poppy straw was also recovered during search of another truck, which was on the way to Punjab from Kashmir, at Jakhani Monday night. The truck driver, Ashgar Ali of Malerkotla village of Punjab, was arrested and a case under the NDPS Act was registered against him, he said. Another police party recovered 26 kgs of poppy straw during vehicle checking at Ramsoo in nearby Ramban district, the spokesman said, adding driver Karpal Singh of Rajouri district was arrested and a case under the NDPS Act was registered against him.
