BSF seizes 855 bottles of banned cough syrup on India- B'desh border, 1 held

New Delhi, Feb 22 The Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday said that its troopers from South Bengal Frontiers have recovered 855 bottles of banned cough syrup Phensedyl from a Bangladeshi national on India- Bangladesh border.

These bottles of banned cough syrup were being smuggled to Bangladesh, the officials said and the arrested Bangladeshi national was allegedly involved in the smuggling of narcotics for the past few days in the region, said the officials.

Earlier, the BSF had seized 597 bottles of prohibited cough syrup Phensedyl from the border area under South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya on February 16.

According to the BSF officials, on a specific tip off, these bottles were seized near Border out Post (BoP) Devendera in Jankhol under 55 Battalion Sector headquarter Tura in Meghalaya on Monday. They also said that these bottles were being smuggled to Bangladesh.

On February 14, the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel arrested two youths for allegedly smuggling it near the Hakimpur BoP in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

The two arrested youths were allegedly involved in smuggling of narcotics over the past few days in the region and they were to be paid Rs 500 for transporting 60 bottles of Phensedyl that was recovered from their possession.

There has been a spurt of smuggling of this cough syrup, gold and narcotics in the recent past on the Indo- Bangladesh border in West Bengal and Meghalaya. However, the BSF officials deny this and said these seizures are because of the high level of vigilance at the border and nearby areas.

The BSF officials also said that the human intelligence network at the border areas plays an important role and the officials posted at the borders are always encouraged to develop human intelligence.

The BSF units posted near the border area of Bangladesh also set up medical camps and other initiatives under the 'Civic Action Programme' to help the local population, this also helps the BSF troopers to develop human intelligence, the officials admitted.