Teknaf, Bangladesh: Nearly a kilogram of heroin worth Taka 10 million was seized from a bus by the police and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on January 5, at noon while it was going to Teknaf from Cox's Bazar. It was seized before reaching the Teknaf bus station Bawrotali, said our correspondent from Teknaf.  

The bus driver and helper were arrested. The number of the bus is Chittro Metro-J04-0175.On being tipped off, a group of BDR and police led by the Teknaf 42 Battalion Commander Major Helal Mohammed Khan accompanied by Mohammed Jasim Uddin, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Teknaf police station went to the spot and seized about one kilogram of heroin from the bus. They found heroin in four packets of chili and vegetables covered in carbon papers.

After seizing the goods, the BDR handed it over including bus and the arrested to the Teknaf police station.

The arrested persons are identified as Pritosh Borua (56), son of Befol Boura, Afsar Meah (55), son of Fozal Ahmed, Omiran Borua (45), son of Sandro Lal. They all hail from Ramu under the Cox's Bazar district.

The operation commander of BDR has been trying since long for nabbing a syndicate which is involved in heroin smuggling in the Bangladesh-Burma border.  At first, the heroin smugglers came to Cox's Bazar by a bus from Comilla bus station.  Afterward they put heroin in chilli and vegetables packets and got on the bus after paying money to the driver, a source close to BDR said.

The BDR commander said that the heroin comes from India to Sylhet and Comilla and then is being taken to Teknaf, and then possibly smuggled to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Bangladesh is a transit point.  

Local people believe that there is a strong syndicate in Teknaf involved in heroin smuggling.  Heroin is also being smuggled to Bangladesh from Burma.

Earlier, heroin was seized three times in Teknaf, a border town in Bangladesh.