Brown sugar worth Rs 10 cr seized at Malda Station, 1 held

Malda: The Malda Town Station RPF (Railway Protection Force) and GRP (Government Railway Police) arrested an alleged drug dealer and recovered nearly 2.98 kg of brown sugar, valued at around Rs 10 crore, from his possession.

The arrest was made on the Howrah-Katihar Express while the train was en route from Katihar to Malda Town Station. The accused was caught in the general compartment of the train, where the brown sugar was cleverly concealed in food tiffin boxes.

Acting on a tip-off, officials carried out an undercover operation and found the drugs wrapped in plastic pouches hidden under a seat in the compartment. The arrested individual, identified as Ismail Sheikh (39), a resident of Chandnichak under Suti police station in Murshidabad district, is believed to have sourced the brown sugar from a drug trafficking network in Nagaland’s Dimapur.

GRP and RPF sources indicated that the drugs were likely intended for smuggling across the Murshidabad border. The accused had travelled from NGP Station to Katihar before heading to Malda.

The GRP has filed a case against Sheikh and will seek his seven-day police custody for further questioning.