Major breakhthrough: Sonbhadra cops nab codeine syrup racket handler in Bengal

Varanasi: In a major breakthrough, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Sonbhadra police arrested the codeine cough syrup smuggling syndicate's alleged handler, Zuber Husain Sheikh, from Howrah in West Bengal. Sonbhadra SP Abhishek Verma said Sheikh, who hails from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, facilitated the smuggling of Phensedyl cough syrup from Jharkhand to Bangladesh through trucks via Purnia, Siliguri and Cooch Behar with the help of his nexus of Bangla-speaking drivers.Sheikh was arrested from a hotel in Howrah earlier this week and brought to Sonbhadra on Thursday on transit remand.Verma said Sheikh told police that he used to smuggle Phensedyl cough syrup from prime accused Shubham Jaiswal's firm in Ranchi (in Jharkhand) to Bangladesh. "The narcotic cough syrup was loaded in trucks driven by Bangla-speaking drivers. No driver would interact with each other. All numbers in their phones were saved in codes instead of names of contact persons and only WhatsApp call was allowed in case of necessity of talking to each other," Verma said quoting Sheikh.Each driver used to make two-three trips to Bangladesh with syrup consignment, and for each delivery they received Rs 30,000, said the Sonbhadra SP. Sheikh ran this racket of drivers with guarantee of providing financial assistance to their families and legal help for bail in case they were arrested. To avail the benefits, drivers followed the conditions — they would never disclose information about gang members, their real names, and addresses to the police.Sheikh told police that many drivers were caught by the police and are currently lodged in Purnia and Ranchi jails. The gang, however, managed to get bail for one accused driver, Sheikh told police.Sheikh had come to Howrah hotel to meet the syndicate members to arrange money for the families of jailed drivers before Eid when he was nabbed by the SIT.The smuggling of codeine cough syrup to Bangladesh and other countries for narcotic use was busted by Sonbhadra police in Oct last year. It was followed by detection of a large illegal network run by the alleged kingpin, Shubham Jaiswal, across many states including UP, Jharkhand, and Bengal. Shubham's father was arrested from Kolkata airport on Nov 25, while dozens of syndicate members were also arrested by SITs of Sonbhadra, Varanasi and STF. Though Shubham Jaiswal is on the run, properties worth Rs 50 crore of his family members and aides have been seized.