Patna, Dec. 28: Smugglers active on India-Nepal border are in for trouble as the sleuths of the intelligence wing of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) have been asked to prepare a list of the criminal gangs involved in illegal activities on the international border and act accordingly.

The intelligence wing of the SSB has been strengthened in the wake of an attack on an SSB camp in Araria district last week and subsequent firing on a violent mob which resulted in deaths of four persons and injuries to eight others, including two SSB jawans.

“The SSB personnel deployed on the India-Nepal border have tightened the noose around the criminal gangs involved in smuggling sandalwood and other contraband articles into Indian territory from Nepal and vice versa,” said SSB’s inspector-general Aditya Mishra.

Mishra, who assumed charge about a month ago, told The Telegraph that the SSB would leave no stone unturned to check illegal activities on the porous border. “But we need cooperation of the residents be successful in our plan,” he said, adding that the SSB officials have been asked to win the confidence of the local people for the purpose.

“The SSB officials are constantly getting intelligence inputs about trans-border activities in the state. A big seizures of narcotics and illegal firearms besides fake currency from the bordering areas shows alertness of the force on the border,” Mishra said.

He claimed that efforts were on to equip the Border Outposts (BOPs) with ultra modern gadgets.

The IG, however, refused to give details about the SSB’s plan and strategy to check trans-border activities for security reasons.

“We can’t share certain things with the media,” he added.

Sources in the SSB’s frontier headquarters in Patna said that the personnel of the SSB’s 36th battalion seized contraband articles worth Rs 2 crore near Piprithan under Kurkikot police station in Kishanganj district on Monday and arrested an alleged trafficker, Mohammd Peshm.

According to assistant commandant of the 36th battalion Alok Kumar, the seizure was made following a tip-off that packets of brown sugar and heroin were being transported by a passenger van.

Subsequently, a team of officials intercepted the vehicle and seized two packets of brown sugar and one packet of heroin valued at Rs 2 crore in the international market.

The raiding team arrested Md Pesham, a resident of Islampur in north Dinapur district of West Bengal. “We are yet to identify the kingpin of the gang involved in supply of narcotics to the bordering areas,” the assistant commandant said.

He said that the arrested person was basically an agent of the well-knit racket.

On April 24, the personnel of the 24th battalion of the SSB had seized contraband ganja and charas worth over Rs 1.5 crore from Bathnaha on Birpur Forbesganj road in Araria district and arrested two persons, including a chaukidar Chaman Lal.

Later, the kingpin of the traffickers’ gang Mohammad Shahnewaz and his two accomplices was arrested. The SSB personnel had also seized banned articles worth several lakhs of rupees from a van on Thakurganj-Bahadurgan road in West Champaran district on February 24.

Counterfeit currency notes worth Rs 18 lakh had been seized by the SSB and the district police personnel in the past 10 months.