JAMMU: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh high court on Tuesday rejected the bail application of an accused in a narco-terrorism case. The petitioner, although under 18 at the time of arrest, was declared to be tried as an adult owing to the grave nature of the offences and his level of maturity as assessed by the Juvenile Justice Board.The minor was named in an FIR registered at Samba PS under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, NDPS Act, Arms Act, Foreigners Act and Enemy Agents Ordinance.An SIA investigation had revealed that the petitioner had been actively assisting his associates and participating in the activities of an organised narco-terror gang, involved in the smuggling of narcotic drugs and firearms into India from Pakistan, the high court was told.The kingpin of this gang was a Pakistan-based man codenamed ‘Rana’, who had been operating with a motive to incite subversive activities using narcotics as a terror currency. Rana had consistently been in touch with Gurpreet Singh alias Billa, another key member of this gang. They used to communicate using virtual numbers and other encrypted and highly sophisticated applications installed in their cellphones, specifically for the operation, the high court was informed.Billa’s links with Rana were corroborated by forensic investigations from screen recordings captured by Billa, who was arrested at a hotel in Samba while on a video call with his Pakistani counterparts. The petitioner was Billa’s associate, the high court was told.Justice Rajesh Sekhri observed that narco-terrorism was no longer confined to drug and weapon smuggling, but had emerged as a new front of proxy war unleashed by adversaries from across the border. The enemy has adopted a dual strategy of sending across drugs and weapons to threaten India’s economic security, incite subversive activities and disrupt the country’s social fabric.The high court noted that the petitioner had been actively assisting and participating in the activities of an organised narco-terror module along with his associates, and thus, couldn’t be allowed to reap the benefits of legislation to “defeat the ends of justice”.