Drug worth Rs 68 lakh seized, 4 held

TT, 19 Nov 2018, Alipurduar: Four suspected drug peddlers were arrested after around 600kg narcotic was seized from two different locations in Alipurduar on Saturday and Sunday.

According to police sources, a truck entering Bengal from Assam was intercepted at Pakriguri, located on the Assam-Bengal border in Kumargram on Saturday night and around 581kg of cannabis -- wrapped in packets -- was seized.

"The truck driver Shambhu Banerjee, a resident of Barasat in North-24 Parganas, has been arrested. During interrogation, he revealed that the consignment had been loaded at Agartala and was to be delivered in Patna. We suspect him to be a member of a drug smuggling racket and trying to collect more information about other members," said a police source.

In another incident, the police caught three persons with 18kg narcotic at the bus terminus in Alipurduar town on Sunday.

Police said they trio identified as Hirak Mochary, Nayan Bora and Dipmoy Daimari had plans to deliver the drug somewhere in Jalpaiguri. They are all residents of Udalguri district in Assam.

"In total, 599kg of cannabis have been seized, the price of which is around Rs 68 lakh," said Sunil Kumar Yadav, Alipurduar police chief.

The seizure, senior police officers said, has again proved that drug smugglers were using north Bengal as a corridor to smuggle narcotics in different parts of the country from northeast.