DRI seizes banned cough syrup worth Rs 6.54 crore from goods train from Bihar in Agartala; one held

Agartala, July 2 (IANS) The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials on Thursday seized a huge consignment of banned cough syrup worth over Rs 6.54 crore from a goods train at the Agartala Railway Station after it arrived from Bihar, officials said.

The seizure of 55,626 bottles (100 ml each) of Eskuf Cough Syrup and Fairdyl Cough Syrup, both of which are often abused as narcotic substances, is the second-largest recovery of such an illegal consignment from a goods train in Tripura after a major haul in October last year.

A senior official said that acting on specific intelligence inputs, DRI officials, assisted by personnel of the Assam Rifles, Railway Protection Force (RPF) and other security agencies, intercepted the consignment and arrested one person identified as Subrata Deb (34).

Deb, who is reportedly the manager of a private business firm in Tripura’s Khowai district, had allegedly come to the Agartala Railway Station, located on the outskirts of the capital city, to take delivery of the illegal consignment.

According to officials, the consignment had been booked from Katihar in Bihar and was transported in a High Capacity Parcel Van attached to the goods train.

Eskuf Cough Syrup and Fairdyl Cough Syrup contain Codeine Phosphate and Triprolidine Hydrochloride, substances that are frequently misused as narcotic drugs in India as well as in neighbouring Bangladesh and some other countries.

The DRI has registered a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and further investigation is underway to trace the source, intended recipients and the wider network involved in the smuggling racket.

Last year on October 17, the Tripura Police Crime Branch (TPCB), with the assistance of other security forces, seized a huge consignment of banned Eskuf cough syrup valued at around Rs 5.4 crore from a goods train. That goods train, carrying chicken feed, rice and other commodities, had reached Jirania Railway Station in West Tripura from Delhi on October 16. Several persons, including Rajib Dasgupta (42), identified as one of the principal kingpins of the racket, were arrested.

A senior police official had said that Dasgupta was a key figure in a major drug trafficking network operating across several northeastern states.

The RPF and other security agencies have, on several occasions, seized narcotics and contraband, including ganja (marijuana), from trains operating between Tripura and other parts of the country, underscoring the growing misuse of the railway network by smugglers to transport illegal substances.

–IANS

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