Nalbari, Oct 24: Medicines worth an estimated Rs 10 crore were recovered from a house in Balikaria, Nalbari, on Saturday. The recovery is suspected to be linked to a theft at a pharmaceutical godown in Guwahati.
The medicines were found at a house belonging to Nibaran Barman, where Labanya Barman had reportedly been staying as a caretaker for several years.
Labanya denied knowing how the medicines had been brought to the house, saying the owner had informed him that someone would arrive to leave some items.
“I don’t know who brought all these. I received a call from the owner saying that someone was coming to keep some things here. How would I know what was inside? I don’t touch or open any of these,” Labanya said.
The recovery is suspected to be connected to the theft of medicines belonging to pharmaceutical company Macleods from a godown in Guwahati during Durga Puja.
Saurav Leela, who owns the company’s office in Guwahati, said the theft came to light on October 22, when staff reopened the godown after it had remained closed for three days during the festival.
“On October 22, when we opened it, we found that several items were missing. On inquiry, we found that the incident had taken place on October 19. The security guard said three people from our office came and told him that the godown would be shifted. They used this as a pretext to take away some of the consignment,” Leela said.
He said three employees, Rahul Yadav, Punanda Das and Utpal Baruah, allegedly involved in the theft surrendered on Friday morning.
“On Thursday, I received a call that the three employees had taken the consignment and wanted to surrender. They surrendered at my house on Friday morning. We then took them to Basistha Police Station, where the proceedings are underway. Today, we are here to assess the recovered stock,” he said.
Leela further alleged that Apurva Das, who had worked with the company for 17 years, was the alleged mastermind behind the theft.
Further details are expected to emerge as the police investigation progresses.