The ‘kingpin’ of a drug-peddling racket has been arrested by Digboi Police following a long chase.
The ‘kingpin’, identified as 40-year-old Raju Rai, son of Bhim Bahadur Chetry of Kherjan area under Digboi Police Station in Tinsukia district of Upper Assam, was netted by a special team of Tinsukia Excise Department, in early morning on Monday last from his residence.
According to departmental sources, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Tinsukia Excise Department constituted for the purpose, raided the residence of the most wanted drug peddler at Kherjan village along the Digboi-Pengaree Road and arrested him with around 71 grams of semi-liquid opium possession and weighing apparatus.
The sources further said that the operation was carried out in the presence of the local Gaon Burha after receiving a tip-off regarding his hideout.
Meanwhile, when contacted about the recovery of cash amount from the possession of the accused during the raid after an alleged controversial statement sparking off confusion among the villagers, the Inspector of Tinsukia Excise Department, P Mahanta, told that whatever cash amount was recovered was handed over to the village headman.
According to the Excise official, the money could not be seized as it was recovered from a separate room of the same residence.
According to a top district police official, when contacted, lauded the efforts of the investigation team and told that the arrested ‘kingpin’ had been running a vast empire of drug racket in the areas covering Assam-Arunachal Pradesh after procuring the contraband substances from places like Myanmar and Nagaland by employing females in particular to promote the lucrative business.
Meanwhile, a case [03(T)/2018] has been registered against the accused u/s 18(A) NDPS Act.