Police seize drugs worth over Rs 1.5 crore in three crackdowns; 6 peddlers arrested

Tripura police in three separate anti-narcotics crackdown on Monday seized huge quantities of illegal drugs worth over Rs 1.5 crore and arrested six drug peddlers.

In one of the largest seizures, police in the Kamalpur sub-division of Dhalai district intercepted a truck bearing a West Bengal number plate based on a tip-off.

Kamalpur Police arrested a smuggler with 310 kilograms of cannabis (ganja) during a vehicle check early Monday morning at Durga Chowmuhani Naka point. The arrested smuggler has been identified as Ravi Kumar, a resident of Bihar.

Acting on a tip-off received late Sunday night, Kamalpur Police began checking vehicles at the Durga Chowmuhani Naka point from midnight. Around 4:00 AM on Monday, police intercepted a truck bearing registration number WB 11C-6078. During the search the truck, police seized 310 kg of cannabis packed in 31 packets and arrested Ravi Kumar.

Kamalpur Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Samudra Debbarma confirmed the incident and stated that the seized cannabis is estimated to have a market value of around Rs 46 lakh.

Police have started interrogating Ravi Kumar to unearth the racket involved with transportation of Ganja from Tripura to other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, in a separate operation in East Agartala, police arrested four drug peddlers and seized a large quantity of Brown Sugar, cash, and two motorbikes under their possessions.

Giving details, SDPO (Sadar) Debaprasad Roy said that acting on intelligence inputs, a raid was carried out in the Lal Matia area of Maharajganj Market, leading to the recovery of 1,200 small vials of Brown Sugar, Rs 7,000 in cash, a mobile phone, a scooty, and a motorcycle and arrested four drug peddlers, identified as Rajib Roy, Mithun Das, Rahul Roy, and Bimal Bardhan, who were selling drugs in that area.

Roy said that all arrested drug peddlers were produced before a local court with police remand appeals under a specific under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for further interrogation to get details of their drug trading network.

East Agartala Police Station OC Rana Chatterjee confirmed the arrests followed credible information on ongoing drug peddling in the area.

In another anti-cannabis operation, Bishalgarh Police achieved success on Monday late night by raiding the residence of Sirajul Islam in Ghaniyamara area and arresting him with 170 kilograms of dry cannabis. The accused, known to be actively involved in drug trade under the guise of being a ruling party worker wearing the party badge, has been booked under the NDPS Act at Bishalgarh Police Station.