Madhepura: Excise officials arrested an alleged narcotics trafficker from the premises of the Lord Shiva temple at Singheshwar Sthan in Madhepura district on Saturday evening, and seized a large quantity of banned cough syrup worth about Rs 5 lakh.Madhepura excise superintendent Durgesh Kumar said the arrest was made following a tip-off about illegal trade being run from the temple premises. Acting on the information, an excise team kept watch in the area and detained a suspect roaming around the temple. During the search, officials recovered 10 sealed bottles of banned cough syrup from his possession.Based on information provided by the accused, the excise team raided his house and recovered another 1,750 bottles of the same cough syrup.The accused was identified as Rajesh Kumar (38), a resident of Goswami Tola, Ward No. 9, under Singheshwar police station area. During interrogation, he allegedly disclosed the names of others involved in the supply chain. “The traffickers are using religious places as safe zones for this illegal trade,” Kumar said.Rajesh Kumar was formally arrested and sent to judicial custody. Excise officials said raids were underway to arrest other members of the network and appealed to residents to share information about such illegal activities.
