Drugs worth Rs 18 crore seized in Assam, two held

Two persons from Manipur were arrested in Assam on Sunday after drugs worth Rs 18 crore were seized from their possession in Guwahati and neighbouring Kamrup district, police said. Acting on a tip-off, the Assam Police's Special Task Force personnel along with the Kamrup police chased a vehicle with the two alleged traffickers on board and apprehended them, a senior officer said.

STF Deputy Inspector General Partha Sarathi Mahanta said police personnel were deployed after information was received that a Manipur-based group would transport drugs through Assam.

"Early on Sunday, specific information was received that the group was on its way in a luxury vehicle to deliver the contraband.

“Accordingly, the vehicle was tracked down and an STF team along with Kamrup district police chased the team. In order to escape the police dragnet, the peddlers tried to flee the spot. In the process, the driver lost control over the vehicle and it fell around 100 ft down the hillock of Powa Makkah in Hajo," Mahanta said.

The police team arrested the two persons, both hailing from Manipur and carried out an extensive search of the overturned vehicle, he said.

"The search of the damaged vehicle yielded 100 soap boxes of heroin, weighing 1.3 kg. Another search of their rented house at Jalukbari in Guwahati city led to the recovery of 65 more packets of heroin weighing 900 grams," the DIG said.

The investigation is on to find out other people associated with the network, he added.