The district police of Pakur claimed to have arrested a drug peddler after recovering 27.27 kg opium from his possession during late night on Tuesday at the Koriodih high school. Later, police identified the accused as Pradip Mandal of Sakulapur area in Malda district in West Bengal.
Pakur Superintendent of police Rajiv Ranjan Singh said on Wednesday, “On a tip-off, police carried out specials checks across the area, and detained the accused who were coming from West Bengal in a Nano car, after recovering 27.27 kg opium from his possession.” One person who has managed to escape from the spot, he added.
Later, after interrogating him, it was revealed that Mandal had brought the opium from Malda district and was on his way to give the consignment to an unknown customer in the city. Police came to know that Mandal was involved in the business of selling drugs to make quick money, and have registered a case under suitable section of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act to initiate further investigations. Police also recovered one pistol with magazine, one mobile and cash Rs 10,279 from him.
The Pakur SP said the police will continue with their checks in the coming days at different locations of the district. More CCTVs cameras will also be installed to keep a vigil on passengers travelling at night,” added Singh.
Highly placed sources in local Officer-in Charge of Litipara Suman Kumar revealed that local police officials had received orders from higher authorities to conduct special checks late in the night, as they suspected most of the intoxicants were being supplied to the city through the road route these days.