Bhubaneswar: Acting on specific intelligence output, the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police along with Angul Police raided a few places in the Angul district on Monday morning and arrested two drug peddlers, including an interstate drug dealer.
The arrested accused have been identified as Rakibul Sekh (43), son of Late Muntaja Ali of Farakka under Khodabandpur police limits in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, and Bijay Birbarma (26), son of Late Bulu Birabarma of Trinath Colony under Talcher police station in Odisha’s Angul district.
During the subsequent search, contraband brown sugar (heroin) weighing 1.120 kg and other incriminating materials were recovered and seized from their possession. The accused persons could not produce any valid authority in support of possessing such contraband materials, for which the accused persons have been arrested and are being forwarded to the court of Additional District Judge-cum-Special Judge in Talcher.
A case has been registered in this connection at the STF police station under Sections 21(c)/29 of the NDPS Act, 1985, and further investigation is underway.
According to an official press release issued by the STF, brown sugar is a local/crude version of heroin (chemical name Di-acetyl Morphine). In Odisha, brown sugar is generally trafficked from Murshidabad, Nadia and Burdwan districts of West Bengal via Midnapore and Jaleswar using road or rail routes.
Particularly Lalgola area of Murshidabad is considered to be a brown sugar production hub.
Unlike the ganja (which is voluminous and heavy and takes a lot of space for transportation), the trafficking of brown sugar is very easy because it is small in volume and weighs less. In addition, it does not have any specific smell like ganja making the job of the law enforcement agencies difficult.
A special drive against narcotic drugs is continuing and the STF has seized more than 76 kg of brown sugar/heroin and 202 grams of cocaine since 2020.
