North Lakhimpur: Two persons were arrested in Lakhimpur’s Banderdewa area on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh inter-state boundary with a consignment of suspected heroin. 

The incident took place in the No 2 Parbatipur area when police searched a young child in a school uniform moving in suspicious condition.

Police searched the schoolboy of Class III and recovered forty containers filled with suspected heroin. Two suspected drug peddlers—Ramakanta Gam (40) and his wife Meena Bori (35) from No. 2 Parbatipur in Banderdewa were arrested in this connection. 

The ten-year-old schoolboy is found to be the son of the arrested couple.

Police also went to arrest another suspected, Jiten Biswas (34) from the same area in connection with the incident. However, he managed to escape before the police arrived. 

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Police recovered a huge amount of Chinese and Myanmarese currencies from his residence and detained his wife. This was stated by Lakhimpur Police in a press meet held at North Lakhimpur Police Station this morning.

It may be mentioned that Jiten Biswas from Parbatipur in Banderdewa is a Kwon history-sheeter in drugs trafficking and peddling and kingpin of the illicit trade in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. 

Biswas was earlier arrested along with his associate Uttam Nath on March 3, 2021, from Kimin Circle by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) of Arunachal Pradesh Police. Heroin weighing 269 grams worth Rs. 53 lakhs, cash of Rs. 6.4 lakhs, foreign currencies of 569 Yuan, a CCTV monitoring DVR and a Hyundai i-20 car with registration number AS-07 M 8922 were recovered from them.

On the night of June 10, 2020, during the Covid-19 lockdown, Jiten Biswas was arrested along with one Sanjay Bhattacharjee (22) by Sootea Police in Biswanath district as they were travelling on the same Hyundai i-20 car with registration number AS-07 M 8922 from Nagaon to Laluk in Lakhimpur district. 

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They were carrying heroin weighing 180 grams, concealed inside the door panel of the car. The seized amount of drugs was estimated to be around Rs 15 lakhs.

On July 20, 2018, Jiten Biswas was arrested with four others, from Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh. One 9 mm pistol, two live rounds and around 85 grams of heroin were also seized from him then. He was also arrested in 2015 by the Sipajhar Police in Darrang district with banned substances.

Thus it is baffling and strange for the concerned citizens that the same person is being arrested for the same crimes he had committed along with recovery of contrabands, ammunition and foreign currencies and with the same vehicle.

The trail of Jiten Biswas’ arrests since 2015 only proves the loopholes and slackness in the system of law enforcement for which the accused, despite enormous evidence against him, gets bail which allows him to resume his illicit activities like drug peddling.

As drug peddling in Banderdewa has fast contributed to the deterioration of order in the society including the latest engagement of school children, the time has come to take strict action against those who are still at large despite their well-documented profile of crime history. 

Farhana Ahmed is Northeast Now Correspondent in North Lakhimpur. She can be reached at: [email protected]