Srinagar, Oct 1: Police in Jammu and Kashmir Srinagar district said on Thursday they have busted a narcotics module in the city, arrested eight persons, recovered Rs 86.76 lakh cash, gold worth Rs 1.07 crore and a pistol.

SSP Srinagar district, Sundeep Chakravarthy, told the media that police have busted a well-established narcotics module operating from downtown Srinagar, arrested eight persons and recovered cash, gold, banned drugs and a pistol. The police have frozen bank accounts and attached properties.

The case was registered as FIR No. 135/2026 U/S 8/21/22/29/25/27A NDPS Act, 3/4/25 Arms Act, 111 BNS at Police Station Safakadal.

According to police, the arrested accused have been identified as Mohammad Waseem Zargar of Patlipora, Chattabal; Haris Hameed Malla of Guzarbal, Chattabal; Aqib Saleem Dar of Rampora, Chattabal; Inam Ahmad Zargar of Haftiyar Safa Kadal; Sahib Ahmad Ganaie of Danamazar, Safa Kadal; Ansar Hussain Bhat of Zabar Mohalla, Budgam; Peer Shakoor of Palpora, Noorbagh; and Haroon Pandit of Guzarbal Chattabal.

Two accused are absconding and have been identified as Faizan Firdous Khanday, alias Farzan Pujj, son of Firdous Ahmad Khanday of Malik Sahab Safakadal, and Mohd Shahvar Aleem, son of Salim of Muzaffar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.

SSP Chakravarthy said the module was busted by the MR Gunj Police, and raids were conducted in Chandigarh and Ambala, besides several locations in Srinagar.

Police said major recoveries include 3.830 kg Codeine; 40 grams approx heroin; 414 tablets/capsules containing Tramadol; 2,18,500 approx tablets containing Tapentadol; 1,200 capsules containing Pregabalin; one pistol, cash of Rs 85,76,800 approx; and gold, including 108 gold coins worth Rs 1,27,44,000 and MMTC-PAMP/jewellery 17 grams worth Rs 2,55,000 approx, total gold value Rs 1,05,29,400. In addition, Rs 1.07 crore has been frozen in multiple bank accounts, police said.

Police also attached one house of Mohammad Waseem Zargar in Patlipora, Chattabal, and two vehicles.

Giving details of the modus operandi, SSP said the network was bringing illegal drugs from outside the state to Kashmir, and it is not a normal case but a well-established network.

Raids are going on at pharmaceutical companies outside J&K, he said. “It is a well-established network. There were raids in Chandigarh and Ambala by the MR Gunj Police. We are thankful to the Punjab Police. Raids are going on at pharmaceutical companies there. We will not spare anyone when it comes to drug abuse,” SSP Srinagar said.

Police said further investigation is underway to establish the complete network and identify forward and backward linkages, and more arrests are likely.

The narcotics module was busted in Srinagar city on a day when J&K Police organised a ‘Run for Unity’ marathon race to engage children and youth in healthy and meaningful activity so that they do not fall victim to the nefarious designs of drug traders.

Bhubaneswar, Oct 1: In a shocking incident, an unknown masked miscreant allegedly sexually assaulted a 26-year-old woman engineer at gunpoint in an apartment under the Nayapalli police station area in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday night, the Commissionerate Police said on Thursday.

The cops launched an investigation after registering a case on the basis of the complaint lodged by the victim.

Police sources stated the victim, who reportedly hails from Jagatsinghpur district, is working as an engineer with a private company in Bhubaneswar. She was staying along with her elder sister in an apartment in the Nayapalli area of the city.

After receiving the information about the incident, senior police officers, including the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar, Saravana Vivek M, rushed to the spot and started the investigation.

“Last night, a 26-year-old woman reported at the police station that when she was in her rented apartment, an unknown person came there and raped her. The victim lives along with her elder sister, and the owners live on the first floor. The accused allegedly showed a gun/toy gun,” the twin city police said.

A senior police official said that the victim’s statement has been recorded, and her medical examination is being conducted. Police have also been examining CCTV footage from the spot and adjoining areas in Nayapalli.

Meanwhile, the locals also expressed shock over the incident and demanded that the police and local administration arrest the culprit at the earliest and ensure stringent punishment. They demanded increased police patrolling in the locality to prevent such crimes from recurring in the future.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, in his response to a query in the assembly, recently informed that 1606 rape cases have been recorded in the state between January 1 and July 31 in 2026.

According to the data shared in the assembly, as many as 21,069 cases in connection with various crimes against women have been registered across the state during the said period.

New Delhi, Oct 1: The Cyber Police Station of Delhi’s South District has busted an interstate cyber-fraud network involved in Telegram-based task and cryptocurrency investment fraud, arresting three accused persons from Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand, police said on Thursday.

According to police, the case came to light after a complainant reported being cheated of Rs 7,86,300 in a Telegram-based task and cryptocurrency investment fraud. The complainant allegedly came in contact with the fraudsters through a Telegram group, where he was induced to undertake online tasks and invest money in cryptocurrency with the promise of substantial returns.

Believing their representations, the complainant transferred Rs 7,86,300 in two instalments of Rs 4,66,300 and Rs 3,20,000, as directed by the accused, police said.

However, the accused neither provided the promised returns nor returned the invested amount and subsequently stopped responding to the complainant.

Following the complaint, e-FIR No. 0149/2025 under Sections 318(4), 319 and 340 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered at Police Station Cyber South, and an investigation was initiated.

The police team comprised Sub-Inspector Raj Kumar Singh, Head Constable Sunil Kumar Bairwa and HC Rajkumar Bairwa, under the leadership of Inspector Hansraj Swami, SHO, PS Cyber South, and the supervision of ACP/Operations Balram Singh Beniwal.

During the investigation, technical and financial analyses were conducted to trace the flow of fraudulent funds. Police identified several mule bank accounts allegedly used to route the proceeds of the cyber fraud. An amount of Rs 4.66 lakh was traced to one mule account, while another account had received Rs 5.22 lakh.

Based on the investigation, the accused Karan Biswas and Mohit Sarkar alias Monu were traced and arrested in Udham Singh Nagar.

Further investigation led to the formal arrest of Vinay Mandal, who was already in custody in connection with another cyber-fraud case registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Rohtak, Haryana. He was subsequently taken on a three-day police custody remand.

Police said the accused operated Telegram-based task and cryptocurrency investment schemes to lure victims into transferring money. Mule bank accounts were allegedly arranged through intermediaries on commission and used to receive, route and withdraw the fraudulent funds. The proceeds were also allegedly utilised for cryptocurrency transactions, including through USDT.

The police recovered two mobile phones, one Canara Bank passbook and relevant digital and financial evidence from the accused.

According to police, Karan Biswas and Mohit Sarkar have no previous criminal involvement, while Vinay Mandal was previously involved in FIR No. 148/25 registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Rohtak, Haryana.

Police said the investigation resulted in the identification and arrest of three alleged members of the network and uncovered the use of mule accounts to route cyber-fraud proceeds.