Agartala, August 28, 2025: Tripura police seized Burmese cigarettes valued at around ₹70 lakh during a raid at Anandabazar Check Point on Kailashahar road early Thursday morning. The seizure was made around 8 am following a tip-off about smuggling activities along the Dharmanagar-Kailashahar National Highway.

According to the police report, Dharmanagar Sub-Divisional Police Officer B. Zorin Puya along with the Dharmanagar Police Station team conducted the raid and intercepted a Bolero pickup van carrying the contraband. While the vehicle was seized, the driver managed to flee the scene. Authorities confirmed that the confiscated cigarettes would be sent to court before being handed over to the Customs Department.

Police sources revealed that the smuggling of Burmese cigarettes through border areas under Dharmanagar and Panisagar police stations has been on the rise in recent years. The products are first circulated within the state and later smuggled across the Bangladesh border. Despite repeated intelligence inputs, police often face obstacles in acting against the racket, with suspicions of involvement of businessmen and political figures from Damcherra.

Additional Superintendent of Police Kamal Debbarma, who rushed to the Dharmanagar Security Office after the operation, praised the successful raid. He confirmed that the action was based on specific intelligence about a consignment headed for Kailashahar. Acting on the tip, police set up surveillance at the check point and recovered the consignment as soon as the van arrived.