Silchar: A suspected smuggler, who had been hiding in Bangladesh according to police authorities, was detained from India-Bangladesh International Border in Assam’s Karimganj district on Wednesday.
According to sources, Altaf Hussain Mazumder, a native of the Barak Valley, was taken into custody at the Sutarkandi border crossing, located 66 km from Silchar, after he arrived in India from Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon.
Altaf was detained by personnel at the Sutarkandi border checkpoint on suspicion of his involvement in the illegal trade of Burmese betelnuts in the northeast India.
The Cachar police, acting on intelligence input indicating that Altaf was crossing into India from Bangladesh, alerted the border checkpoint to detain him.
On Thursday, Altaf will be subjected to interrogation by senior police officials in Silchar to uncover the details of the illegal betelnut trade racket operating in the state and the Northeastern region, sources revealed.
The Superintendent of Police of Cachar, N. Mahatto, stated that the police received information and clues regarding Altaf’s involvement in the illegal trade of Burmese betelnuts in Assam and neighbouring states.
Following this, they contacted the Sutarkandi border checkpoint to detain him. Altaf has a prior arrest record for similar charges and was released on bail, according to Mahatto.
Police investigation revealed that after his release from jail, Altaf reconnected with the illegal betelnut trade racket and the police had been on a lookout for him. “However, he had fled to Bangladesh,” said Mahatto.
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Altaf was previously arrested in 2022 during an operation led by the former Superintendent of Police of Cachar, Ramandeep Kaur, in Chamragudam, Silchar.
He was later transferred to Guwahati by a crime branch team and imprisoned. After a brief period in jail, he was granted bail.
In December of the previous year, the police successfully thwarted a smuggling attempt and confiscated 2000 kilograms of Burmese betelnuts that were being illicitly transported in an oil tanker in the Cachar district from the neighbouring state of Mizoram.
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