Rs 12L cough syrup seized; 2 held

Silchar: Assam Police seized 1,200 bottles of cough syrup and arrested two persons during a routine checking operation at Churaibari along the Assam-Tripura border in Sribhumi district on Monday, officials said.Police said an online goods-loaded container truck travelling from Guwahati to Agartala was intercepted at the Churaibari watch post in the afternoon. During an inspection led by watch post in charge Niranjan Das and his team, the contraband was found concealed inside pockets of trousers packed among the consignment.Police estimated the black-market value of the seizure at around Rs 12 lakh.The arrested persons were identified as truck driver Chiranjit Rabha and his assistant Bikash Rabha, both residents of Pukuripara under Boko police station in Kamrup district.“The contraband was detected during a thorough search of the vehicle,” Das said. Police registered a case under the NDPS Act and launched an investigation to ascertain the source and intended destination of the consignment.Police said the two will be produced before the chief judicial magistrate’s court on Tuesday.The seizure comes days after another anti-drug operation in the border region, as authorities flag continued attempts to use the Assam-Tripura corridor for transporting narcotic substances. Local residents and civil society groups have welcomed the intensified crackdown by Assam Police on drug trafficking in Sribhumi district border areas.