The Excise Department officials arrested four persons for smuggling banned cough syrup bottles in a train during a raid on Monday at Bamra Railway Station under Gobindpur Police limits of Sambalpur district. The sleuths seized 945 cough syrup bottles from the possession of the accused.
The accused persons have been identified as the residents of the Burla area.
Sources said, the Excise Department officials were tipped off that some miscreants were smuggling banned cough syrup in a train from Rourkela to Sambalpur. They launched a search operation in the said train and nabbed the accused persons. They seized 945 cough syrup bottles from their possession. The accused had reportedly procured the bottles from Kolkata.
Registering a case, the Excise department has launched a probe.
Also Read: Largest cough syrup racket busted in Bolangir, Odisha
Earlier on Saturday, police had seized 120 bottles of banned cough syrup from a person at Komna in Nuapada and arrested him for his alleged involvement in the smuggling. Acting on a tip-off, the Komna had carried out raids at different locations. As a part of this exercise, a team was checking vehicles on Bhela Krishna Road when they zeroed in on the accused on a motorcycle. Upon carrying out a thorough check, the cops stumbled upon 120 cough syrup bottles.
The accused person was identified as Debendra Tandi of Renga village under Komna Police limits.