On the 24th of April, ten Pakistan based terrorists were found guilty of smuggling fake currency, weapons and narcotics into the Kashmir Valley, after the Indian Government suspended cross Line of Control (LoC) trade between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK.)
The suspension of the trade between Jammu and Kashmir and PoK was declared on the 19th of April. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA,) the trade between the two places was stopped because of illegal activities being carried out across the LoC under the pretext of cross LoC trade. The goods included in the cross LoC trade included almonds, dry dates, mangoes, dry fruits and tamarind.
Further investigations into the matter showed, the ten involved in the smuggling crossed over to Pakistan and joined terror groups once there. “Firms under the control of these militants were doing LoC trade with Indian trading firms operated by their own relatives on the Indian side. The channel of LoC trade, meant to facilitate exchange of goods of common use between local populations, was being exploited to fund illegal and anti-national activities in Jammu & Kashmir,” a source close to the investigation said in a statement.
The Jammu and Kashmir natives were either living in Islamabad and Rawalpindi in Pakistan or in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK.) The terrorists were transporting goods and money to the terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir induce unrest in the State. This trade was carried out as a part of the modus operandi and was done on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI.)
“The direct involvement of militants in the cross LoC trade and their contribution to fund terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir was one of the reasons to suspend cross LoC trade,” an official said.
The Government of India will only revisist opening the LoC trade talks after safety and peace measures are put in place to take a deeper look into these issues. New rules are going to be put in place to ensure the trade lines are used only by the local population and not by terrorists.
Stay tuned for more updates.
