Driver dives into pond fleeing 57.65 kg car stash
Mekhliganj police stopped a Honda Civic heading Cooch Behar to Siliguri at the Changrabandha bypass checkpost on 26 June 2026 and found 37 packets holding about 57.65 kg of ganja in built-in compartments. Driver Ranbir Shikari of Siliguri jumped into a nearby pond to escape and was dragged out and arrested.
🇮🇳 Changrabandha bypass checkpost, Cooch Behar · India
- Arrested
- 1
- Cannabis
- 57.7 kg
Acting on a tip-off, Mekhliganj police searched a vehicle at the Changrabandha
bypass checkpost on Friday morning.[1] Officers stopped a Honda Civic (WB 06 H
2859) travelling from Cooch Behar toward Siliguri and began their inspection.[1]
Sensing the search, driver Ranbir Shikari, a trafficker from Ward 20 of
Subhashpalli in Siliguri, abandoned the car and jumped into a nearby pond to
flee, but police immediately dragged him out of the water and arrested him.[1]
Built-in compartments in various parts of the car held 37 packets containing
about 57.65 kilograms of ganja, with a market value of several lakh rupees, and
the car was seized.[1] Block development officer-cum-executive magistrate
Nareshraj Rai and Mekhliganj officer-in-charge Mohammed Shahbaz attended the
operation; a preliminary probe suggested wider involvement, which police said
they were investigating.[1]
Sources
- চ্যাংরাবান্ধা বাইপাস চেকপোস্টে বিপুল পরিমাণ গাঁজা উদ্ধার, গাড়ি সহ গ্রেপ্তার পাচারকারী. Uttarbanga Sambad, 26 June 2026.
Open questions the AI reported
- The map marks Changrabandha locality; the exact bypass checkpoint location was not established.
- Only Uttarbanga Sambad has published this seizure in text form; no second outlet account was found.
- Whether others were involved, as police were investigating, is unreported.
- The court outcome is unreported.