By TC News Desk
Agartala, 1st July 2025: In a significant blow to cross-border drug trafficking, the Assam Police on Tuesday seized heroin valued at approximately ₹6 crore from a vehicle bearing Airtel insignia in the Sribhumi district and arrested three individuals, including a telecom engineer.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs about the misuse of telecom-labeled vehicles for narcotics smuggling, the operation was spearheaded by Superintendent of Police Partha Pratim Das. “We had received confidential information that heroin was being transported from Mizoram in a vehicle associated with Airtel. Based on that, we deployed plainclothes officers across key locations,” SP Das said.
Around 4 pm, a Tripura registered white Bolero vehicle bearing registration number TR01M2262 marked “Airtel On Duty” arrived in the Nilambazar area from Mizoram’s Champhai district. Upon interception and search near Nilambazar police station, officials found 870 grams of heroin concealed in 76 soap boxes hidden in a secret compartment of the vehicle.
The three arrested were identified as Sabbir Ahmed of Patharkandi, Suhel Ahmed of Hailakandi and Iftikhar Ahmed, a fiber engineer with Airtel and a resident of Guwahati.
“The seized contraband has a street value of nearly ₹6 crore. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the NDPS Act, and an in-depth investigation is underway,” the SP added.
All three accused were produced before the District Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Meanwhile, local authorities are verifying the corporate credentials of the arrested engineer amid growing curiosity regarding his affiliation with the telecom firm.
Police sources hinted at the possibility of larger inter-state narcotics networks operating under corporate camouflage. Further interrogations are expected to shed light on the extent of this modus operandi.
