Police arrested eight college students from a locality here on Sunday evening for allegedly consuming narcotics and also seized a tokay gecko, a rare lizard species, during the raid.

Amlan Ghosh, the additional superintendent of police of Alipurduar, said a section of residents dwelling on Maya Talkies Road in ward 18 of the town had complained that some local youths often consume cannabis in the open.

“The youths, aged between 19 to 21 years, have been arrested. Also, a tokay gecko has been recovered from the house of one of these students,” Ghosh added.

In north Bengal, the state forest department and other agencies have time and again recovered tokay gecko, a small animal that has huge demand in the grey market as it is used in making traditional Chinese medicine.

According to police sources, among the eight, seven have been alerted to abstain from drug abuse and released on personal bond.

The youth from whose house the animal was recovered, has been charged under Wildlife Protection Act. He was produced at a local court on Monday and sent to police custody for 10 days.

“We need to find out whether he is involved with any smuggling racket,” said a police officer.