Tripura, 8 Oct 2025: Drug traffickers appear to have adopted a new tactic to outsmart law enforcement. Acting on a tip-off, Dharmanagar police intercepted a suspicious scooter coming from Kadamtila towards Dharmanagar around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday near the Dighalbak bridge area.
Police managed to detain one of the two riders, identified as Sadiki Zaman (18), while the scooter driver managed to flee the scene. During the search, police recovered a sealed packet suspected to contain narcotics. However, when the packet was opened in the presence of SDPO Jayanta Karmakar, a magistrate, and a forensic expert team, it was found to contain nothing but packaged salt.
The discovery created a wave of curiosity and confusion among local residents. Police suspect that the drug network deliberately used the packet as a decoy to mislead investigators and ensure the safe passage of their actual narcotics consignments elsewhere.
Dharmanagar Sub-Inspector Tapan Das said,
“We are taking the matter seriously. The detained youth will be thoroughly interrogated to trace the source and motive behind this operation.”
Interestingly, during the tenure of former North District SP Bhanupada Chakraborty, a similar incident occurred in the same Dighalbak area, where a supposed drug consignment turned out to contain packaged Pepsi bottles instead.
With this latest twist, authorities believe drug peddlers are once again resorting to deceptive tactics to evade police surveillance and keep their illicit trade running under the radar.
