Drug racket busted, 13 arrested with 9kg contraband

Bihar STF, aided by central agencies, dismantled an international narcotics syndicate, arresting 13, including a doctor and a Nepali national, seizing 9.3 kg of drugs.

The Bihar Special Task Force (STF), with assistance from central agencies including the SSB, has busted an inter-state and international narcotics syndicate operating across Bihar and neighbouring states, police said on Monday. Thirteen people — including an MBBS doctor and a Nepali national — were arrested from three separate locations. Police seized a Thar jeep, a Scorpio, two motorcycles, 12 mobile phones, Indian and Nepali currencies, and 9.3 kg of narcotics worth crores. The Nepali national had long been on the radar of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), officials said.

Drug racket busted, 13 arrested with 9kg contraband

In the first operation, ADG (Operations) Kundan Krishnan said the STF launched a special operation based on a tip-off. Acting on the intelligence, a team intercepted a Thar jeep (RJ-25CB-4021) near the Indo-Nepal Maitri bridge. During the search, the STF recovered 7 kg of charas packed in 21 packets. All four occupants — Tekam Chandra Goyal and Ashok Agarwal (Rajasthan), Meghraj Sah (Nepal), and Bengali Verma (Uttar Pradesh) — were arrested.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed the names of three accomplices — Sarabjit Choudhary, Gurdeli alias Ram Narayan Shah, and Kamaldeo Ram (all from Motihari). They were later arrested from the Sugauli police station area, and 2 kg of charas was recovered from them. The investigation revealed that the charas was being brought from Nepal for supply to Rajasthan via Bihar.

Police said Meghraj, who ran a hotel in Birgunj, used it as a front to operate the syndicate. He is an accused in an NDPS case registered with Ektang police station in Nepal and had built a supply chain through contacts in Bihar, sourcing contraband grown in hilly areas. Verma had served over 11 years in jail in an NDPS case in Varanasi, while Tekam Chandra is also wanted in a similar case registered at Kaila Devi police station in Rajasthan.

Krishnan said Meghraj is suspected to be the mastermind. All seven arrested in the first operation were handed over to the Haraiya police station in East Champaran, where an FIR has been registered against 20 people. Efforts are on to trace the remaining members of the network and dismantle the entire syndicate, he said.

In a separate raid in Bhojpur, the STF arrested three persons — Ritesh Kumar alias Sonu, Ritesh Kumar, and Vicky Kumar — from the Nawada police station area and seized 90 gm of heroin. Bhojpur SP Raj said the trio was involved in narcotics trafficking and smuggling.

In another operation in Naugachhia, police arrested four people, including a doctor posted at Bihpur Railway Hospital, and seized 200 gm of brown sugar. Those arrested were identified as Shivam Kumar alias Monu, Piyush Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, and Dr. Alok Kumar.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team led by SDPO Om Prakash intercepted a Scorpio near a railway crossing under Bihpur police station limits. “Police recovered 200 gm of narcotics from Shivam’s possession. All the accused confessed to procuring the contraband from Araria and supplying it in Naugachhia and adjoining areas,” said SP Prerna Kumar.

(With inputs from Prashant Ranjan)