Agartala, Nov 3 — The Tripura Police Crime Branch has arrested two key accused in connection with the seizure of banned cough syrup worth ₹5.4 crore from a goods train arriving from Delhi, officials said on Monday.
According to a senior police official, the Anti-Narcotics Wing of the Tripura Police Crime Branch (TPCB) apprehended Arun Kumar Ghosh (58) from Kolkata and Himanshu Jha alias Sonu (32) from Delhi. Both are suspected to be major players in the inter-state drug trafficking network. They will be brought to Agartala for court production after completion of transit formalities.
The arrests follow the earlier detention of Rajib Dasgupta (42) on October 30 in connection with the same case. With these developments, all three primary accused, identified as major drug traders operating in Tripura, have now been taken into custody.
The case stems from the October 17 recovery of 1,07,800 bottles of banned Eskuf cough syrup from a goods train at Jirania railway station. The train, which arrived from Delhi carrying rice, chicken feed, and other cargo, was searched following intelligence inputs. The contraband — containing Codeine Phosphate and Triprolidine Hydrochloride, substances commonly misused as narcotics — was found concealed inside two wagons.
Officials estimate the street value of the seized drugs at around ₹5.4 crore. The joint operation, conducted by Tripura Police, Assam Rifles, GRP, STF, and Customs officials, has been described as a major breakthrough in the state’s campaign against narcotics trafficking.
Investigators suspect the consignment was intended for illegal cross-border smuggling into Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the Opposition CPI-M and Congress have launched state-wide protests, alleging the use of railway services for drug trafficking, and the Youth Congress has initiated a mass letter campaign urging the Railway Minister to intervene.
