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Agartala, November 2 (IANS): The youth wing of the opposition Congress on Sunday launched a mass letter campaign to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, protesting against the transportation of narcotics in a Delhi-Tripura goods train.
The Tripura Youth Congress plans to send over 10,000 such letters in the coming days. Security forces had earlier recovered 1,07,800 bottles of banned Eskuf cough syrup on October 17 from a goods train that arrived at Jirania railway station in West Tripura from Delhi.
Tripura Youth Congress President Neel Kamal Saha said that the initiative began centrally from Agartala on Sunday and would soon be expanded to all blocks and localities across the state.
“We have started sending mass letters to the Railway Minister from Agartala. Similar letters will be dispatched from each block and locality across the state in the next few days,” Saha told the media.
In the letter, the Youth Congress alleged that certain leaders of the ruling BJP, in collusion with dishonest traders and drug peddlers, were attempting to turn Tripura into a drug-smuggling corridor, even using railway services for illegal activities.
“These drug peddlers are not ordinary traders. They are big operators with close links to a section of ruling BJP leaders. The police are hesitant to arrest these powerful figures,” Saha alleged, demanding the arrest of all those involved.
Meanwhile, the Tripura Police Crime Branch (TPCB) on October 31 arrested Rajib Dasgupta (42), identified as one of the main kingpins involved in the seizure of drugs worth Rs 5.4 crore recovered from the Delhi-Tripura goods train.
A senior police official said Dasgupta is a key figure in a major drug trafficking network operating across the Northeastern states.
“Another key drug peddler involved in the case is currently absconding. TPCB teams are conducting raids to nab the fugitive,” the official told the media.
The official further said that, acting on specific intelligence, a joint team of security forces searched the goods train at Jirania railway station and recovered the banned Eskuf cough syrup, which contains Codeine Phosphate and Triprolidine Hydrochloride substances often misused as narcotics in India, neighbouring Bangladesh, and other countries.
The estimated value of the seized drugs in the illegal market is around Rs 5.4 crore, the official added. The joint operation, conducted by Tripura Police, Assam Rifles, Government Railway Police (GRP), Special Task Force (STF), and the Customs Department, is being described as one of the major successes in the state’s ongoing war against drug trafficking.
The goods train, carrying chicken feed, rice, and other items, had arrived at Jirania railway station from Delhi on October 16.
The search operation began that night and continued into the early hours of October 17. The illegal consignment was found unclaimed and concealed in two wagons alongside other cargo.
The seized items have been handed over to the Customs Department for further investigation and legal action. Police suspect that the banned Eskuf cough syrup was meant to be smuggled into Bangladesh through clandestine routes.
