Two BJP leaders held in north Bengal for drug trafficking

Kolkata, Dec 17 (PTI) Two BJP leaders from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district were arrested in connection with a drug trafficking case, with police recovering 55 grams of yaba tablets from their possession, an officer said on Wednesday.

The accused have been identified as Krishna Barman and Ashutosh Ray, police said.

"These two are local BJP leaders from Dinhata. They were carrying yaba drugs on them. The duo were arrested on Tuesday night in connection with the drug case, and the probe is ongoing," Cooch Behar SP Sandeep Karra told PTI.

They were produced before a local court, which remanded them to police custody, he added.

The IPS officer said preliminary investigation suggested that the accused were attempting to smuggle the banned tablets to Siliguri.

Incidentally, the families of the two had earlier alleged that they had gone missing after being picked up by police.

One of the accused, Barman's wife Lalita is the president of the BJP's No. 6 mandal in Dinhata Assembly constituency. PTI SCH MNB