Assam natives arrested in Ernakulam with heroin

Kochi: Ernakulam rural police arrested three Assam natives with 65g of heroin. The arrested individuals were identified as Abdul Bashar, 30, Beech Milan, 58, and Rustam Ali, 22, all from Nagaon. Acting on a tip-off received by district police chief M Hemalatha, a special investigation team led by Perumbavoor ASP took them into custody at Nedumthode Junction.According to police, the accused travelled from Assam by train to Aluva and were heading towards Allapra with the contraband in an autorickshaw. The investigation team seized six boxes of heroin hidden in soap boxes.Bashar is the main link in smuggling heroin from Assam to Kerala and was under surveillance by the investigation team for some time. He worked as a contractor at a plywood company in Allapra and used his job as a cover for drug trafficking, said police. Known by the alias Bhandari, he purchased heroin boxes for Rs 30,000 and sold them in small containers. He sold each container for Rs 1,000. A month ago, the investigation team caught him with nine containers of heroin, sources said.The investigation team included Perumbavoor ASP Shakti Singh Arya, inspector T M Sufi, SIs Rince M Thomas and Subhash Thankappan, ASI P A Abdul Manaf, senior CPOs Varghese Venatt, T A Afsal, Benny Isaac, Ramesh, Ajith Mohan and CPOs Sibin Sunny, Nizamuddin, and T A Fazal.