Agartala, Oct 31: In a major breakthrough in the state’s war against narcotics, the Tripura Police Crime Branch has arrested one of the key kingpins involved in the seizure of 1,07,800 bottles of banned ESkuf cough syrup worth around ₹5.4 crore, recovered from a goods train at Jirania Railway Station earlier this month.
The accused, Rajib Dasgupta (42), son of Basanta Kumar Dasgupta, was arrested late on Thursday night by the Anti-Narcotics Wing of the Tripura Police Crime Branch (TPCB) following extensive investigation. Police sources said Dasgupta is a major player in a drug trafficking network operating across the Northeastern states.
The massive consignment was seized on October 17 after a joint operation by the Tripura Police, Assam Rifles, Government Railway Police (GRP), Special Task Force (STF), and the Customs Department, based on specific intelligence inputs. The goods train, which had arrived from Delhi carrying chicken feed, rice, and other commodities, was searched after it halted at Jirania. The contraband was found hidden and unclaimed in two wagons.
According to officials, ESkuf cough syrup, banned in India, contains Codeine Phosphate and Triprolidine Hydrochloride—both controlled substances under the NDPS Act. The syrup is frequently smuggled to Bangladesh, where it is misused as a narcotic substance.
Police believe the consignment was intended for cross-border trafficking through Tripura’s porous international boundary. Efforts are underway to trace another absconding peddler and dismantle the entire supply chain.
With this latest seizure, narcotics worth over ₹136 crore have been confiscated in Tripura in less than three weeks, underscoring the state’s growing challenge as a transit hub for illicit drug trade in the Northeast.
