The arrested men along with the catch. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, May 23: Heroin and fake Indian currency were seized in an operation by SSB men near the India-Nepal border late last night.

“Following a tip-off, we sent a patrolling unit to Galgalia, 50 km from here, after 2am. Two men — later identified as Ratan Moni Choudhury and Pramod Ale — were caught trying to cross the border into Nepal. Around 350 gm of heroin and fake currency notes with face value of Rs 38,000 were seized,” said S.L. Sarkar, the commandant of 22 Battalion, currently posted in the Ranidanga sector.

“We arrested the duo at Dangujot near the 101 border pillar in Galgalia,” said the senior SSB officer.

Both the arrested persons are aged around 30 and hail from Nepal. While Ratan is a resident of Laxmipur village in Udaipur district, Pramod comes from Belbari village in the Morang district of Nepal. SSB personnel today interrogated the duo who revealed that they were heading for a destination in Nepal to make the delivery.

The haul comprised 380 false notes (in denominations of Rs 100) and a pouch containing the drug that was sourced from Thailand, Sarkar said. Yesterday’s seizure follows the two sandalwood hauls made by the border guards within the last week.

“The counterfeit notes were poorly made and the duo was taking them to Nepal as Indian currency is used there but the people are not too particular and officials not much aware of the racket,” said Sarkar.

He, however, added that the seized heroin appeared to be of good quality and could fetch a high price in the international grey market.

In the afternoon today, the Siliguri police recovered 18.8 kg of cannabis worth Rs 25,000 from Jalpai More here. Shibu and Saifuddin Hossain, both residents of Tufanganj in Cooch Behar, were arrested in this connection.