Gopalganj, Feb 8 (IANS): Bihar Police seized 265 kg charas from a van at Balthari checkpost on National Highway 28 in Gopalganj and arrested three Nepalese citizens in this connection.

Gopalganj Superintendent of Police Anand Kumar on Monday said that the police were checking vehicles at Balthari checkpost on Sunday following a tip-off. The team at the checkpost stopped a suspicious pickup van, going from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh, and found that the registration number of the van was fake.

When the team checked the vehicle thoroughly, they found 265 kg of charas, in around 1,000 packets, hidden in the cabin of the van. The value of the seized charas is estimated to be Rs 50 crore in the international market.

Three persons including the driver of the van have been arrested. All the three accused are residents of Nepal. Prakash Kumar Kurmi and Vicky Srivastava are residents of Birgunj while Vinay Kumar Sahni is a resident of Parsa Mathwal.

Kumar said that during interrogation, the accused revealed that the charas was being smuggled from Nepal via Gopalganj to Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. Further investigation in the case is on, he added.