, Oct. 2 -- Three alleged members of an idol-smuggling ring were arrested and a 15.1kg black stone statue of Hindu deity Vishnu was recovered during a drive in the South Guptapara area of Rangpur city on Thursday night.

Four black stone fragments weighing 6.8 kg in total were also recovered during the operation, Biplob Kumar Goswami, senior assistant director (Media) of Special Response Battalion (SRB)-13, said on Friday morning.

The arrestees are Mizan, 42, of Guptapara; Mozaffar Hossain, 37, of Nayabazar village under Haragach Police Station; and Majedul Islam, 29, of Sonaton Siddik Bazar village under Kaunia Police Station.

According to SRB-13, a team raided a first-floor flat of a four-storey building owned by AKM Humayun Kabir in ...