Assam police recovered over 60 bicycles, half of which were meant for distribution among students of state-aided schools of Bengal, early on Saturday from a village close to the Cooch Behar border.

The recovery prompted questions on whether such cycles were illegally transported to Assam or were bought from students who received them from the Bengal state government.

After being voted to power, chief minister Mamata Banerjee introduced “Sabuj Sathi”, under which cycles are distributed free of cost among students in Bengal’s state-aided schools, irrespective of their economic background, as they reach Class IX.

Late on Friday, a team from Tamarhat police station, which is in Assam’s Dhubri district, raided village Musalmanpara on a tip-off to recover the cycles. The cycles were found around 2.30am on Saturday.

“We recovered 61 bicycles during the raid. Around
33 cycles are of Sabuj Sathi and bear the logo. These are brand-new cycles. We have detained two persons in this connection and are trying to find out how they got the cycles and their plans with them,” said Sanjoy Bodo, the officer-in-charge of Tamarhat police station.

Though located in Assam, Musalmanpara is just 7km from Purba Falimari, a village under Boxirhat police station of Cooch Behar.

The detained duo, Aziz Sheikh and Ali Hossain, are residents of the same village. Hossain, sources said, is a cycle mechanic. “Some of these cycles were also found in his shop in Hatidhura, a locality near the village,” said a source.

Barun Roy, the secretary of Gaon Rakshi Bahini, a village volunteer force, confirmed the raid.

“We were surprised to see some cycles meant for students in Bengal. The Bengal government should find out how they reached Assam,” he said.

The teaching fraternity in Cooch Behar sounded surprised at the development.

Biswanath Deb, headmaster of Ala Baksh High School in Okrabari, Dinhata, said there had been instances of students collecting cycles from schools and selling them, but he had not heard of such cycles reaching Assam.