In a major drug bust, a joint team of excise officials and Jaleswar Police busted an illegal narcotics den at Jhadeswarpur in Balasore on Monday and recovered 2.4Kgs of brown sugar worth over Rs 2.5 crore.
The police have also arrested three persons including two women and a hotel owner (Mukhtar Ali Khan) in connection with the case.
Acting on a tip-off, a 35-member team of Balasore, Jaleswar and Basta police conducted a surprise raid on the house of Mukhtar Ali at Jhadeswarpur area last night and recovered 1.5 kg brown sugar. Later, 1.175 kg brown sugar was seized from Mukhtar's mother-in-law and domestic help.
As per reports, two separate cases have been registered by the Excise department.
Briefing the media after the record drug haul, Balasore SP Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra said, "Today's seizure is one of the biggest seizures of recent times. Names of some more mafia have come to the fore. They will be arrested soon and legal action will be taken against them."
Speaking to OTV, Khan denied the charges levelled against him and said, "I am not involved in this trade. The Police barged into our home late last night and arrested me, my wife and my mother-in-law
It is worthwhile to mention here that one of the family members of the woman was also arrested in connection with a sex racket two years back.
The town of Jaleswar, being close to West Bengal has emerged as a major transit point for illegal narcotics trade in the recent past.
Earlier this October, a joint team of Jaleswar Excise Department and police had seized the contraband worth around Rs 55 lakh in two separate major crackdowns at different places in the block. As many as four persons have been arrested in this connection.
The seizure of huge quantity of brown sugar from Jaleswar is not new for police as well as excise officials. According to the statistics of Odisha police, 34.457 kgs of brown sugar have been seized from the State till August 31, 2021 of which over 7 kgs were from Balasore district.
STF SP Tejraj Patel said, " Murshidabad of West Bengal is the hub of brown sugar. Besides, we have information that it is being smuggled from Bangladesh side. Our efforts are underway to find out its link and main sources."