Kolkata, Oct 22 (IANS): Kolkata Police on Saturday informed that the sleuths of their special task force (STF) seized poppy straw, an opium-based narcotics, from a warehouse in Kolkata.

Three persons have been arrested in this connection. They have been identified as Fayaz Alam (55), Mohammad Sultan (39) and Mohammad Kalim (28). City police sources said that the quantity of poppy straw seized was 3,600.7 kilograms, market value of which is around Rs 30 crore.

On October 14 this year, the STF sleuths arrested Jharkhand-based individual Nausad Ansari from AJC Bose Road in central Kolkata with 531 kilograms of poppy straw.

During integration, Ansari admitted he got this assignment from Jharkhand and was supposed to deliver the same to a warehouse at Gulshan Colony under Anandapur Police Station on the southern outskirts of Kolkata.

Accordingly on late Friday night, the STF sleuths raided that particular warehouse and seized that huge quantity of poppy stray from there.

City police sources said that the warehouse acted as the main distribution centre for these narcotics elements to different retailers. The STF sleuths doubt that a cross-country racket is involved behind this trade.