An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police and a member of the NVF (National Volunteer Force) were arrested on Monday for allegedly trying to “strike a deal” with two narcotic peddlers with a promise to release them.
The arrests were made by personnel of the Milky police outpost of the Englishbazar police station.
Police sources said ASI Mohammad Safikul Islam, who was posted at the Balutola police camp of the Manikchak police station, and Mohammad Safikul of the NVF, posted at the Manikchak police station, had detained Mohammad Mostafa and Abdul Mannan alias Titu on Sunday.
Mostafa and Titu were allegedly into the peddling of narcotics and are from Golapganj under the jurisdiction of the Kaliachak police station. Packets containing brown sugar (a derivative of heroin) were seized from the two.
Some officers of the Milky police outpost learnt that the ASI Islam and Safikul had demanded ₹4.5 lakh from the two alleged peddlers for their release. The duo had also told the peddlers that they would destroy the seized brown sugar.
“A person from Kaliachak reached the outpost and said he had paid ₹2.88 lakh to the ASI and the NVF member as an advance for the release of the peddlers. He said the duo had demanded ₹4.5 lakh to free the peddlers,” said a source.
When the police initiated a probe, they came to know that the peddlers were heading towards Harishchandrapur to deliver the narcotic when the ASI and the NVF member, who were in plainclothes, intercepted them.
During the inquiry, police officers also recovered the narcotic (496 grams of brown sugar) that was dumped on a vacant plot by the NVF personnel. The cost of the narcotic is around ₹40 lakh.
“The peddlers were taken into custody. The cash that was paid for their release was seized from the residence of a relative of the NVF personnel. ASI Islam and Safikul were present there then,” the source said.
A senior police officer said: “The ASI and the NVF personnel have admitted their crime. We have started an investigation."
ASI Islam and Safikul, and the two alleged drug peddlers were produced in a court and remanded in judicial custody for a day.