Army soldier, policeman arrested in Goa with heroin

Panaji, Dec 5 (IANS) An army soldier and a police constable were arrested here Friday for peddling heroin, the police said.

Superintendent of Police V.V. Chaudhury told IANS that the army soldier has been identified as Vasu Babu Gaonkar and the other involved in the case is police constable Kalidas Shetye.

A total of 750 gm of heroin was found in their possession.

Gaonkar was posted in Jammu and Kashmir and was attached to the 18 Madras Regiment.

'Gaonkar is a native of Goa and had brought the heroin from Kashmir to be sold in Goa,' Chaudhury said.

Chaudhury said that Shetye was formerly attached to the Calangute police station, which oversees the coastal areas of Calangute, Sinquerim, Candolim and Baga, notorious for narco-tourism.

'Both accused have been remanded to seven days in police custody,' said Police Inspector Ashish Shirodkar, who conducted the searches.

'We are interrogating the army soldier for his role in procuring the contraband from a sensitive area like Jammu and Kashmir,' he added.