Five persons were arrested with arms and ammunition and other sharp weapons from Mojampur area in Malda district early on Friday.
According to sources, Safiqul Islam, Aktar Alam, Amirul Sheikh, Abraul Momin and Masidur Sheikh, all residents of Mojampur, had assembled near a local bridge when a team of Kaliachak police intercepted them. “Two improvised firearms, 14 rounds of live cartridges, two swords and an iron rod were seized from them,” said Alok Rajoria, SP, Malda.
In another incident, police held four persons for trading gold illegally. Hirak Biswas, the inspector-in-charge of Malda police station, said three of them, including a woman hail from Bharatpur in Rajasthan. The trio had visited a gold shop in Muchia area to sell six gold lockets without valid papers. “We have arrested the goldsmith along with the trio.”
In Siliguri, officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence nabbed two persons with gold bars weighing 1.90kg from Calcutta-bound Saraighat Express at New Jalpaiguri station on Thursday evening. The estimated cost of the seized gold is around Rs 95.72 lakh, sources said. The arrested duo are Partha Sanyasi and Madan Sanyasi, residents of Gangarampur in South Dinajpur district.
Venom haul
Foresters of Gorumara wildlife divisionof the state forest department on Friday seized snake venom smuggled from Bangladesh and arrested a suspected smuggler from the outskirts of Jalpaiguri town.
“The cost of the seized venom, which was is crystallised form, is around Rs 13 crore,” Jyotipriya Mallick, the state forest minister. A forester said the crystallised form of venom was made in France.
