Malda cough syrup smuggling racket busted; ₹2.40 crore seized from trader
Synopsis
A nightlong West Bengal Police operation in Malda has cracked open a cross-border cough syrup smuggling ring, yielding ₹2.40 crore in cash, gold, and 9,000 banned bottles — and raising fresh questions about the scale of contraband networks feeding Bangladesh's illicit drug demand from Indian border districts.
Key Takeaways
Malda district police busted a cough syrup smuggling racket to Bangladesh in a nightlong operation on Sunday–Monday, 3 August .
Cash worth ₹2,40,97,380 , approximately 20 grams of gold (valued at ₹2.80 lakh ), a laptop, and 9,000 bottles of banned cough syrup were seized.
Three persons arrested: Pintu Sarkar (a medicine dealer), Gopal Chaki , and Sushant Halder .
The raids stemmed from follow-up investigations into a prior seizure of 1,500 cough syrup bottles in Dakshin Dinajpur last month.
Separately, Birbhum district police last week seized ₹28 crore cash and 15 kg gold biscuits from a residence linked to absconding quarry owner Tulu Mondal .
West Bengal Police have dismantled a cough syrup smuggling network operating out of Malda district, recovering ₹2,40,97,380 in cash, approximately 20 grams of gold valued at ₹2.80 lakh, and 9,000 bottles of banned cough syrup in a nightlong operation that began on Sunday night and extended into the early hours of Monday, 3 August. The racket was allegedly funnelling contraband cough syrup to Bangladesh, where such substances are in high demand as intoxicants.
How the Operation Unfolded
The crackdown was carried out simultaneously on two fronts by Malda district police. One team raided a residence in the Mangalhat area, where the scale of the cash haul required three currency-counting machines to tally the seized amount. In addition to the cash, a laptop was also recovered from the premises.
A second team conducted search operations in the Khaihatta area of Malda district, continuing through 4 am on Monday, and seized 9,000 bottles of banned cough syrup.
Who Was Arrested
Police arrested three individuals in connection with the cash and gold seizure: Pintu Sarkar, Gopal Chaki, and Sushant Halder — all local residents. The flat from which the cash and gold were recovered is owned by Dilip Saha but had been rented for some time by Pintu Sarkar, identified as a medicine dealer by profession. All three were to be produced before a district court in Malda later on Monday, with the public prosecutor seeking police custody.
Link to Earlier Seizure
According to a Malda district police official, the raids on Monday were a direct result of follow-up investigations into a separate seizure last month, when approximately 1,500 bottles of banned cough syrup were recovered from the Mehendipara area of Dakshin Dinajpur district just before they could be smuggled across the border into Bangladesh.
Wider Pattern of Seizures in Bengal
The Malda bust is the latest in a series of large-scale recoveries across West Bengal. Last week, Birbhum district police seized ₹28 crore in cash and 15 kilograms of gold biscuits worth approximately ₹22 crore from the residence of Minar Mondal, a close relative of stone-quarry owner Tulu Mondal, also known as Mohammad Nazibuddin, who is reportedly absconding.
Tulu Mondal had previously been identified as a close associate of Anubrata Mondal, the former Trinamool Congress (TMC) Birbhum district president, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and subsequently by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2022 in connection with a cattle smuggling case. Tulu Mondal's name had also surfaced in that investigation, with central agencies raiding his home and office at the time.
With the Malda operation now adding a cross-border narcotics angle to the state's enforcement picture, investigators are expected to probe whether the smuggling networks operating in different districts share financial or logistical links.
Point of View
Pointing to entrenched smuggling corridors along the Bangladesh border that enforcement has repeatedly disrupted but not dismantled. The fact that the Malda raids were triggered by a month-old Dakshin Dinajpur case suggests the network is larger than any single node. What remains unanswered is whether the financial flows from cough syrup smuggling are connected to the political economy of illicit cash that the Birbhum seizures have put back in focus. Investigators following both threads will need to establish whether these are parallel networks or parts of the same one.
NationPress
3 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What was seized in the Malda cough syrup smuggling bust?
Police seized ₹2,40,97,380 in cash, approximately 20 grams of gold worth ₹2.80 lakh, a laptop, and 9,000 bottles of banned cough syrup during the operation. Three currency-counting machines were needed to tally the cash recovered from a residence in the Mangalhat area of Malda.
Who was arrested in the Malda smuggling case?
Three persons were arrested: Pintu Sarkar, a medicine dealer who had been renting the flat where the cash and gold were found; Gopal Chaki; and Sushant Halder. All three are local residents and were to be produced before a Malda district court on Monday.
Why is banned cough syrup being smuggled to Bangladesh?
According to reports, certain cough syrups are in high demand in Bangladesh as intoxicating substances, driving a cross-border smuggling trade from Indian border districts including Malda and Dakshin Dinajpur in West Bengal.
How is this Malda case connected to earlier seizures?
The Malda raids were a direct follow-up to a seizure last month in the Mehendipara area of Dakshin Dinajpur district, where around 1,500 bottles of banned cough syrup were recovered before they could be smuggled into Bangladesh. Investigators traced the supply chain back to the Malda network.
What is the Birbhum seizure mentioned in connection with this case?
Last week, Birbhum district police separately seized ₹28 crore in cash and 15 kilograms of gold biscuits worth around ₹22 crore from the residence of Minar Mondal, a relative of absconding quarry owner Tulu Mondal. Tulu Mondal is a former associate of ex-TMC Birbhum chief Anubrata Mondal, who was arrested in 2022 in a cattle smuggling case.
