Kolkata, Jan 13 (IANS) The kingpin of an inter-state drug trafficking ring was arrested from Kolkata, police said on Tuesday.

The accused was identified as Enarul Sheikh.

According to Malda district police sources, the notorious criminal was caught on Monday during a raid in the Entally police station area.

Acting on a tip-off, a special team of Malda district police conducted a raid along with the Kolkata Police. After a prolonged search, Enarul was caught red-handed.

Enarul, a resident of Malda, is one of the main persons in a massive drug trafficking ring that brings raw materials for drug manufacturing from various states in the Northeast, produces brown sugar and then smuggles it across the country.

On Tuesday, Malda District Superintendent of Police Abhijit Banerjee said that the accused had earned over crores of rupees through drug trafficking.

He had been on the run for a long time, and the police finally achieved success.

Not only Enarul, but his uncle, Bhablu alias Shawkat Sheikh, was also arrested along with him.

Police claimed that, due to the efforts of Enarul and Bhablu, raw materials for drug manufacturing were brought to West Bengal from various places in the Northeast, including Manipur and Assam.

“Enarul had trained several young men in Kaliachak in Malda district, teaching them the process of making brown sugar from these raw materials. This brown sugar was then smuggled to various states through different agents. Enarul’s gang is active in states like Bihar and Jharkhand. Enarul’s gang was also involved in several gang wars in the Kaliachak area,” said a senior officer of Malda district police.

Recently, drug traffickers have been investing the proceeds of crime in the construction industry.

The accused will be produced before the Malda district court, and the police will seek his 10-day custody.

Police claimed that Enarul’s arrest was a major success in the state’s anti-drug operation.

At the same time, the possibility of the accused having links to Bangladesh is also being investigated.

It has been learnt that Enarul also has connections with various influential individuals.

–IANS

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