NIA serves notice to a Tripura housewife; police launch investigation into drug racket

AGARTALA: As part of the ongoing crack-down operation against a human trafficker’s gang in Tripura, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) issued notice to 42 -yrs old Sonia Aktar, a housewife of Matinagar, Rayermura Pandabpur under Amtali police station of West Tripura based on the intelligence input of state police.

According to sources, NIA had asked her to appear before the NIA Branch office in Guwahati on May 28 but has not turned up. Sonia was summoned along with two others - Jalil Miah (53) and George Miah (69) of Belabar under Amtali police station after NIA found them involved in cross-border crime and involved in a human trafficking network.

“Jalil and George appeared before the NIA team on Tuesday and after a prolonged interrogation, NIA arrested Jalil but released George on medical grounds,” the intelligence officials said here on Thursday adding that based on the information shared from Tripura police NIA with the support of BSF picked up as many as 29 border touts last year who were found active in a human trafficking gang and have been under NIA custody.

The report said the traffickers have a network on both sides of the border in Bangladesh and India. Besides smuggling activities they are involved in the trafficking of Rohingyas and underprivileged people from Bangladesh and bordering locations of Tripura to big Indian cities and Middle East countries. And, many of them are found to get involved in criminal gangs.

They are also running a racket of making fake Indian documents and passports from Tripura, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Sources said that as many as 33 persons were arrested earlier in a case, which NIA had taken over from Assam Special Task Force that had originally registered an FIR on March 22, 2023, under various sections of IPC and Passport Act 1967 and 24 of them were charge-sheeted.

Meanwhile, Tripura police launched an investigation into the intelligence input that suggested the drug smuggling racket operated from Myanmar has shifted the corridor to Tripura via Mizoram onward to mainland India and Bangladesh from its traditional route Manipur.

According to the report, Tripura has become the major producer of cannabis in recent years at the behest of political patronage from the leaders of the ruling BJP party. The dry cannabis from the villages mostly from the Sepahijala and West Tripura districts has been transported to West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, and some Southern states of India via Assam.

Similarly, Brown sugar, Yaba tablets, and other chemical tranquilizing drugs have been coming from Myanmar to Tripura via Mizoram, onward to Bangladesh and Indian states. Although the consumption of cannabis is not popular in Tripura, others are rampant among youngsters, and intravenous drug use among teenagers reached an alarming level, which increased the spread of HIV/AIDS, police sources underlined.

“Besides, influential individuals and political personalities, a section of policemen and officials of the state forensic laboratory have also been found to be involved in the drug dealing racket. As a result, most of the cases registered under the NDPS Act couldn’t stand in court because of multi-phased dilution during the investigation right from registering the case,” said a senior officer of the crime branch of Tripura.

In continuation of the investigation, city police on Wednesday raided the Goyalabasti colony opposite the Civil Secretariat and arrested at least five persons including a woman, and seized a substantial quantity of drugs and cash. During the raid, police recovered 400 vials of brown sugar, 3,000 empty vials presumably intended for drug packaging and cash of Rs 1.25 lakh.

The arrested suspects are Lal Kishan Roy, Lal Babu Roy, Dharmendra Roy, Rahul Saha, and Goria Devi. They were produced before the court seeking remand to crack down on the smuggling network. A day ago, Tripura police arrested five passengers including a woman hailed from Bihar with a huge amount of contraband on the Tripura-Assam border at Churaibari from a bus.

The accused were identified as Bhullu Singh (28), Amarnath Pashoa (35), Satyaranjan Gain (43), Bhullu Kumar (29) and the lone woman Shibani Rani (24).

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.