A 31-year-old man was apprehended with 3.64 kg of suspected cannabis at Guwahati Railway Station on Sunday during a surveillance operation by the Railway Protection Force (RPF), officials said.
Personnel of the Crime Prevention and Detection Squad (CPDS), RPF Guwahati, conducted the operation as part of intensified surveillance against drug trafficking, theft and other anti-social activities at the station.
According to the RPF, the accused, identified as Kolkata resident Abhimanyu Basu, was intercepted in a suspicious condition on Platform No. 1 near the cloak room on the Kamakhya side of the station.
During a search, RPF personnel found a dark green Aristocrat trolley bag allegedly in his possession. The bag contained four packets wrapped in cello tape, which were found to contain suspected cannabis weighing 3.640 kg. The seized substance has an estimated market value of around Rs 40,000, the RPF said.
During questioning, Basu reportedly told authorities that he had collected the suspected contraband in Shillong, Meghalaya, and was transporting it by train to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) in West Bengal allegedly for monetary gain.
He reportedly claimed that he had received the suspected cannabis from his girlfriend in Shillong and had been instructed to hand over the consignment at a location in NJP, details of which were to be communicated to him later. He also reportedly told investigators that he did not know the identity of the intended recipient.
The suspected contraband was seized following due procedure in the presence of witnesses. Information gathered about the alleged source of the consignment, its intended destination and the prospective recipient was handed over to the Government Railway Police (GRP), Guwahati, for further investigation.
The accused and the seized material were handed over to GRP Guwahati for legal action.
GRP Guwahati registered Case No. 201/26 under Section 20(b)(ii)(B) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in connection with the seizure. Further investigation is underway.
