Imphal : A 38-year-old man from the Johrat district of Assam was arrested by Manipur police along with 346.43 gm of brown sugar packed in 30 soap cases. Based on specific information that an alleged drug smuggler was trying to smuggle out contraband items from the state, personnel of the anti-narcotic cell of Senapati district police laid an operation.

Police intercepted the illegal drugs during a check of the vehicle (Renault KWID car) which led to the arrest of Rahul Saikia (38), son of Khireswar Saikia, a resident of Dangdhara Gaon, Jorhat, Assam. He was arrested in the presence of an Executive Magistrate near Martyrs’ Park in the Senapati district of Manipur bordering Nagaland on the north on Sunday afternoon, the police said here on Monday.

The arrest and seizure were made while he was driving his vehicle toward Dimapur from Imphal side near Martyr’s Park, about two km south of Mao police station, around 5.30 am, the police also said. Upon checking the vehicle, the police detected the 30 soap cases containing brown sugar concealed under the front dashboard of the car.

The driver was detained under the NDPS Act. Later, the arrested man and the seized items were handed over to Mao police station for further investigation after lodging a case, the police added.