A special task force (STF) team of the state police nabbed a couple with narcotics worth Rs 12 crore late from outside Malda Town station on Wednesday night.

Sources said Golam Mostafa, 27, and Riya Safin, 20, had collected the narcotics from the northeast and reached Malda via train. They were waiting outside Malda Town station when the STF team intercepted them.

“Their incoherent replies aggravated the suspicion of the STF officials. They examined their luggage and found several black polythene bags concealed in a music system. As Mostafa was grilled, he admitted that they were carrying heroin in the box,” said a police officer.

The couple was arrested and taken to Englishbazar police station at night. The box was opened and around two-and-half kilos of heroin was recovered.

“During preliminary investigation, it has been found that the couple had collected the narcotics from Manipur and were supposed to hand it over to a local agent in Malda,” the police officer added.

According to sources, the seized heroin is estimated to be around Rs 12 crore.

The sources said that Safin is a Manipuri whom Mostafa had introduced as his spouse.

“We are verifying whether the man and the woman are married to each other. We have also contacted the Murshidabad district police to gather details about the youth whose family lives in Lalgola area of the district,” the officer said.

Mostafa, police said, had claimed that for the first time, he was acting as a carrier of narcotics to make some quick bucks. The duo was supposed to receive Rs 30,000 after delivering the consignment to the agent in Malda.

On Thursday, the couple was produced in a local court here and the duo were remanded in police custody for four days.