Anantnag court convicts five, including couple; hands 10-year sentence for drug trafficking

May 15, 2025 by News Desk

Suhail Dar

A special court in Anantnag has sentenced five individuals, including a married couple, to ten years of rigorous imprisonment after they were found guilty of trafficking a commercial quantity of Charas, a potent form of cannabis.

The sentencing, delivered on May 7 by Principal Sessions Judge Manzoor Ahmad, also imposes a fine of ₹1 lakh on each of the convicts.

Those sentenced include Mohammad Rafiq Bhat, his wife Mubeena Banoo, Anayat Ullah Bhat, and Aijaz Ahmad Bhat—all from Soaf Shali in the Kokernag area—as well as Sajad Ahmad Ganie from Hangal Gund, Kokernag.

The case dates back to an FIR (No. 63/2022) registered at Police Station Kokernag, following the seizure of five kilograms of Charas, categorized under the NDPS Act as a commercial quantity.

During the proceedings, the court found the accused guilty under Sections 8/20(c) and 29 of the NDPS Act, observing that the five operated in close coordination and were part of an organized drug network.

In his remarks, Judge Manzoor Ahmad noted that the trade and distribution of narcotics pose a serious threat to young lives in Kashmir and held the group accountable not only for possession but also for enabling wider circulation of contraband in the region.

This judgment stands among the harsher sentences issued by the Anantnag court this year in drug-related cases, reflecting a growing judicial emphasis on curbing the spread of narcotics across South Kashmir, where communities have increasingly raised alarm over addiction.

As the drug crisis deepens across villages and towns, such convictions also bring to focus the structural networks behind the narcotics trade—networks that often operate quietly within familiar neighbourhoods.p