Security forces in Mizoram and Tripura have seized huge quantity of drugs valued at Rs 34.73 crore and arrested three drug peddlers in this connection, an official said on 31 July 2025.

A Defence spokesperson said that acting on secret information; the Assam Rifles troops launched an operation on Thursday at Zote areas in eastern Mizoram’s Champhai district. During the operation, the para-military personnel recovered around 11 kg of highly addictive methamphetamine tablets valued approximately Rs 33.33 crore. The recovered contraband has been handed over to the Excise and Narcotics Department, Champhai.

In Tripura, the Border Security Force (BSF), in a joint operation with Tripura Police, seized 14,000 methamphetamine tablets and apprehended three suspected individuals in the Sepahijala disrrict’s Salpokhar area close to Bangladesh border. Acting on specific intelligence received during the early hours, a BSF team swiftly mobilised and cordoned off a red Chevrolet Aveo car and a joint search was conducted, resulting in the recovery of 70 packets containing 14,000 methamphetamine tablets, valued at approximately Rs 1.4 crore. Three drug peddlers — Sarfraj Ahmed (resident of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh), Jubair (Moradabad, UP), and Nazrul Islam (Cooch Behar, West Bengal) — were apprehended from a nearby house.

The contraband and the suspects were handed over to Tripura Police for further legal action. The operation highlights BSF’s proactive role and unwavering commitment in preventing narcotics smuggling and ensuring the safety and security of the India-Bangladesh border, a BSF statement said.

Police officials suspect that the drugs were smuggled from Myanmar and through Mizoram and southern Assam brought to Tripura to smuggle them to Bangladesh. Myanmar’s Chin state has emerged as a major hub for drug trafficking, wildlife smuggling, and other illicit activities. The contraband is often routed through six districts in Mizoram — Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual, and Serchhip — which share unfenced borders of 510 km with Myanmar.

-IANS

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Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg has returned to India 1,440 antiquities, including sacred temple sculptures, that had been smuggled to the US. The artefacts were returned at a ceremony to India’s Consulate General, represented by Consul Manish Kulhary by Alexandra de Armas, the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Group Supervisor, the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.

“We will continue to investigate the many trafficking networks that have targeted Indian cultural heritage,” Bragg said. The pieces were recovered during investigations into criminal trafficking networks, including those of antiquities traffickers Subash Kapoor, who has been convicted in India, and Nancy Wiener, convicted in the US, according to the prosecutor’s office. “Today’s repatriation marks another victory in what has been a multi-year, international investigation into antiquities trafficked by one of history’s most prolific offenders,” HSI New York Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker said.

Some of the antiques had been on display in museums until they were seized by the Manhattan prosecutor’s Antiquities Traffic Unit (ATU). They are valued at $10 million. A warrant has been issued in New York for the arrest of Kapoor, the alleged ring leader of the antiquities smugglers network and his extradition from India is pending, according to the prosecutor’s office. One of the returned sculptures depicts a Celestial Dancer and it was looted from a temple in Madhya Pradesh in the early 1980s. Looters cut it into two and smuggled it to New York via London for sale. One of Kapoor’s clients donated it to the New York Metropolitan Museum (Met) from where it was seized by the ATU in 2023. Another was the Tanesar Mother Goddess looted from the village of Tanesara-Mahadeva in Rajasthan in the early 1960s and ended up with Wiener at her New York gallery.

After passing through two collectors, it was added by the Met to its collection in 1993 and the ATU seized it in 2022. These antiquities were the latest in a series of efforts by US authorities to reunite stolen artefacts with India. During his visit to Washington, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had thanked President Joe Biden for returning the stolen antiquities and said, “For us, these are not just art but part of our heritage, culture and religion. So when this lost heritage returns home, they will be received with a lot of emotion.” Soon after, 105 antiquities were handed over to India by the Manhattan prosecutor’s office.

In 2022, Bragg handed over 307 items valued at about $4 million to the consulate general. Bragg said at that time, “Kapoor was one of the world’s most prolific antiquities traffickers.” Kapoor, who ran an art gallery in New York, was arrested in Germany in 2011 in an operation known as Operation Hidden Idol and extradited to India. He was sentenced in 2022 by a court in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, to a 10-year prison term for the theft of a religious statue from a temple.

–IANS

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In Sulur, Coimbatore, a lorry loaded with iron rods rammed into the Kizhinji Mandapam situated in front of the Arasur Periya Mariamman temple, causing significant damage to the mandapam structure.

The lorry, which came from Karnataka, was being driven by one Sadhik Basha when it crashed into the mandapam.

Following the incident, the temple authorities demanded compensation for the damages caused to the mandapam. However, the owner of the lorry, identified as Amanullah Khan, offered a meager sum of ₹25,000 as compensation, much to the dissatisfaction of the temple authorities who demanded ₹4 lakhs.

The issue escalated when the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department intervened. They filed a complaint with the police regarding the incident and the inadequate compensation offered.

In response to the complaint, the police took action and seized the lorry involved in the accident.

" கோவில் மண்டபத்தை இடித்து தரைமட்டமாக்கிய லாரி டிரைவர்.. " 4 லட்ச ரூபாய் இழப்பீடு கேட்டால் 25 ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் தான் தருவேன் என அடாவடி.. கடைசியில் லாரியை பறிமுதல் செய்த போலீஸார்..#Covai | #LorryAccident | #Temple | #Police | #PolimerNews pic.twitter.com/bBNaj1Q6TV

— Polimer News (@polimernews) April 29, 2024

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The post Coimbatore: Lorry Loaded With Iron Rods, Driven By Sadhik Basha Rams Into Arasur Periya Mariamman Temple Kizhinji Mandapam; Seized By Police appeared first on The Commune.