Major Cough Syrup Smuggling Ring Busted in Kolkata, ₹2.40 Crore Seized

Kolkata, August 3: A significant crackdown on a cough syrup smuggling operation has taken place in the Malda district of West Bengal. Authorities seized a substantial amount of cash and gold from the residence of a local trader in the Manglahat area.

According to sources, three cash counting machines were used to tally the seized cash, which totaled ₹2,40,97,380. In addition, approximately 20 grams of gold, valued at around ₹2.80 lakh, and a laptop were also confiscated. Police have arrested three individuals in connection with this case.

The arrested suspects have been identified as Pintu Sarkar, Gopal Chaki, and Sushant Haldar, all local residents. The house from which the cash and gold were seized belongs to a person named Dilip Saha. However, it has been rented out for some time to Pintu Sarkar, who is a medicine trader by profession.

Meanwhile, another team from the Malda district police conducted a raid in the Khaihatta area. This operation lasted until 4 AM on Monday, resulting in the seizure of 9,000 bottles of the banned cough syrup.

Last month, a large quantity of restricted cough syrup was recovered from the Mehndipara area of South Dinajpur district, intended for smuggling into neighboring Bangladesh, where there is a high demand for such products as narcotics.

Following this, police seized around 1,500 bottles of cough syrup. An officer from the Malda district police stated that the raid on the trader’s house was part of the ongoing investigation related to last month’s seizure of cough syrup bottles.

Last week, Birbhum district police confiscated ₹28 crore in cash and approximately ₹22 crore worth of 15 kilograms of gold biscuits from the residence of Minar Mandal, a close relative of Tulu Mandal, a stone quarry owner from Birbhum who is currently on the run.

Tulu Mandal was known to be a close associate of Anubrata Mandal, the Birbhum district president of the Trinamool Congress, who was arrested in 2022 for alleged involvement in a cattle smuggling case. Tulu Mandal’s name also surfaced during the investigation into the cattle smuggling case, and he was under the scrutiny of central investigative agencies at that time.