Cannabis bound for Calcutta seized

TT, Siliguri, April 22: The Narcotics Control Bureau and the Sashastra Seema Bal seized 1,000kg of cannabis from a Calcutta-bound truck during a joint raid last night.

A team, comprising officials from the bureau and the paramilitary force, conducted the raid on the basis of a tip-off that the truck had been parked in front of an eatery off National Highway 31. The driver of the truck was having dinner when the team reached there.

The total cost of the seized cannabis is around Rs 7.20 crore, according to preliminary estimates.

Sources in the Sashastra Seema Bal said the large consignment of narcotics was being sent to Calcutta via Siliguri from the Northeast.

"We had information that the huge consignment of narcotics was on its way to Calcutta through Siliguri. Accordingly, our personnel of the 41st battalion raided the site with a bureau team sent from Calcutta.... We found the truck around 11pm last night," a source in the paramilitary force said.

The roadside eatery where the team conducted the raid is located between Ghoshpukur and Bidhannagar, around 25km from Siliguri.

The cannabis, sources said, had been kept in a concealed cavity created under the truck's main wooden platform, on which other goods had been loaded.

"We could arrest one person - the truck's driver. He has told us that the cannabis had been loaded in Manipur and was being smuggled to Calcutta. The vehicle has been seized," the source said.

The seized cannabis and the driver have been handed over to the Narcotics Control Bureau for further investigation.