The officers of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busted a drug racket in Chandpara near Bongaon and arrested three persons on late Tuesday evening. They also seized 3.8 kg heroin worth Rs 3 crore from a crude drug purification laboratory run by the kingpin who has gone into a hiding. This is the fourth big seizure of heroin from Bongaon this year.

NCB officers said the existence of the lab indicated that Bongaon, which is located near the India-Bangladesh border, was no more a mere transit point for trafficking heroin produced in north India to Bangladesh.

“The quality of heroin arriving here from states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh was becoming increasingly inferior and was losing demand in the international market. To increase its purity, kingpin Bimal Mondal had set up a crude lab at his farmhouse in Chandpara,” said K Shankar, the zonal director of NCB.

Acting on a tip-off, NCB officers, at first, arrested Mondal’s associates — Abhijit Mondal (31) and Abdul Majid Mullick — from Chandpara. They were carrying 11 kg of acetic anhydride, a chemical used for purifying heroin. Their interrogation led the NCB to the Chandpara farmhouse from where they seized heroin and another 27 kg of acetic anhydride. Bimal’s father Santosh Mondal (65), who was present at the farmhouse, was also arrested. The NCB team also raided Bimal’s residence in Bongaon.

“Mondal was in Kolkata when we were carrying out the raid. We have learnt that he is hiding in Durgapur. We are trying to track him,” said Shankar.

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