385 cough syrup bottles seized from bus at Churaibari; 3 held

A 45-year-old man was arrested with 385 cough syrup bottles (Codeine) from a bus at Churaibari, near the Assam-Tripura border, on Friday morning.

The man Billomangal Debnath, son of late Kutilal Debnath, is a resident of Gopinagar village under the jurisdiction of Bishalgarh in Sepahijala district in Tripura.

According to sources, Billomangal was apprehended from a bus around 10am this morning during routine checking by the police at Churaibari, around 105km from Silchar. The bus, bearing registration number AS-11 AC-8787 was on its way from Silchar to Tripura.

After searching the bus, police recovered three plastic bags which contained 385 cough syrup bottles. The market value of the seized contraband is around Rs. 80,000. Billomangal, who was one of the passengers and was going to Tripura with the cough syrup bottles, was arrested. The bus driver Abdul Hasib (40) and assistant driver Ranjit Das (35), both residents of Karimganj district, were also held in this connection, sources said.

Another source said the owner of the bus is a resident of Silchar Pradip Dey. The matter is being inquired by the police.

During police interrogation, Billomangal said he sells vegetables along the Indo-Bangla border areas in Sepahijala and that he had purchased the cough syrup bottles from a resident of Silchar. His wife is ill and he was going to sell the contraband to some Bangladeshi people to collect money for his wife’s treatment, he confessed.

He informed that the demand for cough syrup always remains high in Bangladesh as a huge number of people, especially youths, consume it for intoxication. A cough syrup bottle (Codeine) costs around Rs. 250-300 in Bangladesh, he said.

Receiving the information, Bazaricherra police reached the spot and initiated an investigation. Billomangal, Abdul and Ranjit will be produced before a court in Karimganj on Saturday.