Princh Mondal Olif, Bagerhat Correspondent

Detective Branch (DB) police in Bagerhat seized a large quantity of suspected fake Derby cigarettes during a raid in Morelganj on Saturday afternoon (14 June). The operation took place around 3:00 pm at a cowshed next to Crown Tobacco Industries in Sankivanga village of Morelganj municipality.

According to police, about 1 million sticks of Derby-brand cigarettes and several hundred thousand additional cigarette-related materials were recovered. Morelganj police also seized various machinery parts and materials allegedly used in cigarette manufacturing.

DB Inspector Md. Nazrul Islam, Assistant Customs, Excise and VAT Officer Md. Mezbha Uddin, SI Uttam Kumar of Morelganj Police Station, Green Bangla Tobacco owner Somnath Dey, and local sales agent Masud Karim Titu were present during the operation.

Somnath Dey said that machinery and cigarette-making materials worth crores of taka had been stolen from his factory after the political unrest last August. He said he filed a case in court and that the raid was conducted under a court order. He added that some of the stolen items had already been recovered.

Masud Karim Titu alleged that Crown Tobacco Industries owner Badrul Alam Bhaddar had been producing and distributing counterfeit copies of Derby cigarettes for a long time. He claimed that at least 1 million fake Derby cigarettes were found in the cowshed beside the factory.

DB Inspector Nazrul Islam said the recovered cigarettes appear to be fake Derby products, but the matter is under investigation and legal action will be taken based on the findings.

Morelganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md. Mahmudur Rahman said the raid was carried out following a court order related to the earlier theft case. He added that the factory owner and employees were not found during the operation, the factory was locked, and their phones were switched off.

SI Uttam Kumar said some of the stolen materials from Green Bangla Tobacco had been recovered and the operation was continuing, with the possibility of recovering more items.