Guwahati, Nov 21 (IANS) In two separate incidents, Assam Police have seized narcotic substances worth several crores from Cachar and Karbi Anglong districts, officials said on Monday. Five persons, who were allegedly involved in drug peddling, were apprehended by the police.
In Cachar, three people were arrested with 1.80 lakh tablets used for intoxication on Sunday in the Lakhipur area in the district. Police informed that the international market value of seized tablets is around Rs 50 crore.
The accused were identified as Abdul Saeed, Ibazur Rahman and Sameer Alam, all residents of the Cachar district.
Cachar Superintendent of Police Numal Mahato said, "These three were smuggling tablets in a lorry. The drugs were being smuggled in a secret chamber built in the vehicle's carrier. Based on a specific information, three people were arrested after searching the vehicle and tablets were seized."
The police officer further informed that as per the initial investigation, Abdul Saeed had brought the tablets from the Churachandpur district of neighbouring Manipur state. The purpose was to smuggle them to foreign countries.
Further investigation is underway in the case.
In another incident, police and CRPF in a joint operation intercepted a truck and seized four quintals of Ganja hidden in a modified secret chamber in Karbi Anglong district on Sunday. Two accused were also apprehended.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he "personally" feels that alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab had cost the BJP heavily.
India on Tuesday recorded 1,68,063 new Covid cases, taking the total tally to 8,21,446. Although the fresh infections were 6.4 per cent less than Monday when the country logged 1,79,723, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 8.85 per cent and the daily positivity rate has declined to 10.64 per cent. On the other hand, 4,461 Omicron cases were recorded from 28 states.
Delhi reported a 25 per cent surge in Covid-19 cases after recording 19,166 fresh cases. With this, the infection tally has climbed to 15,68,896. Meanwhile, the city has recorded 17 Covid deaths on the second consecutive day, pushing the death toll to 25,177.
On Monday, after a detailed hearing in the matter, a bench, headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said the court will set up a committee headed by a retired top court judge to probe the PM's security breach and asked both the Centre and Punjab government to not move ahead with their respective inquiries into the matter.
Several Supreme Court advocates on Monday claimed to have received an international call with a recorded message asking the apex court not to help the Central government by taking up a case connected with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach in Punjab last week.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress are projected to poll 40 per cent and 36 per cent votes in Punjab, respectively, as per the ABP-CVOTER Battle for the States survey. The 117-member Punjab Assembly will go to the polls on February 14, and the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.
