Malda: Smugglers open fire on police, two held

Malda: In a standoff early Thursday morning, smugglers shot at police officials who were trying to prevent an illegal border crossing in the Silapur area under Kaliachak police station in Malda. The incident occurred when a group of smugglers attempted to smuggle banned cough syrup from India into Bangladesh. Upon receiving a tip-off, the Golapganj police outpost launched an operation to apprehend the smugglers.

As the police closed in, the smugglers opened fire, targeting the officials in a desperate attempt to escape. Despite the gunfire, the police managed to subdue and arrest two of the smugglers. During the arrest, authorities seized a 7mm pistol, a magazine with two rounds of ammunition, and 100 bottles of Phensedyl, a popular but illegal substance commonly trafficked across the border.

In another incident based on a tip-off, a team of the Malda unit of the Special Task Force apprehended four persons at Deotala under Gajol Police Station in Malda on Tuesday.

The STF team recovered and seized a total of 20000 bottles of contraband Phensedyl from a six-wheeler Container and a four-wheeler Bolero vehicle. Both vehicles have been seized. The total value of seized phensedyl is nearly Rs 1.54 crore. The contraband was being smuggled from Uttar Pradesh and proceeding towards Gangarampur side in Dakshin Dinajpur,

West Bengal.

The arrested individuals include Jiyaul Haque (23) of Uttar Pradesh along with Manirul Jamadar (36), Ariful Islam (25) and Tomal Barman (30) all from Gangarampur, South Dinajpur.