Police unearth poppy straw smuggling racket

Kolkata: In a major breakthrough ,the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police unearthed a racket involved in smuggling of poppy straw (contraband drugs) with the recovery of 953 kg of the material and arresting five persons in this connection.

A senior official of the Special Task Force said that the sleuths acted on a credible source information and intercepted a matador from BT Road under Cossipore police station area on Tuesday.

It was found that the vehicle was loaded with 854 kgs of poppy straw. The driver , the helper and the agent involved with the smuggling of the material, were nabbed immediately.

On interrogation the sleuths learnt that the poppy straw was loaded at Dhulian in Murshidabad and was bound for a godown at Burrabazar area in central Kolkata where it was supposed to be unloaded.

Accordingly, the police conducted a raid at Nabab Ali Lane under Posta police station area and two persons who were keepers of the godown where the materials were to be supplied were also held.

The sleuths also seized 99 kg of poppy straw that was stored inside the godown.

The arrested persons have been identified as Ramdayal Shaw, Sulo Shaw of Begusarai Bihar, Mithun Mondal of Baishnabnagar Malda, Muglesur Seikh and Sotto Saha, the driver and helper of the seized vehicle who hail from Samsherganj in Murshidabad.

"We are looking for the owner of the godown who is absconding. The arrested persons are being interrogated for further leads in the case," a senior Special Task Force official said.

The police has booked the arrested persons under Section 15 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The police has strengthened vigil soon after the announcement of elections and has been conducting naka checking at important crossings in the city.