Odisha man held for smuggling 8kg ganja by train

Bengaluru: A man from Odisha who transported 8kg of marijuana (ganja) to the city via a train has been arrested by railway police. A Bengalurean, the alleged receiver of the consignment, has also been nabbed.
Neelakanta Palai, 42, resident of Khordha district in Odisha and Mohammed Sabeer, 36, resident of Neelasandra in Bengaluru, were caught with what police described as good quality of ganja worth around Rs 4 lakh.
According to Bheemashankar S Guled, SP, railways, Neelakanta was caught at KSR City railway station with the contraband. Police said he had arrived in the city via Prasanthi Express and was carrying a trolley bag containing the drug. Based on a tipoff, police first arrested Neelakanta and later chalked out a plan to nab Sabeer, the purported receiver of the contraband.
Police said Neelakanta grew marijuana in his fields in Badapari village and struck a deal of Rs 4 lakh with Sabeer, an autorickshaw driver also in the business of selling ganja to a network of drug peddlers.
“Neelakanta had dried the leaves and packed them tightly using electric insulation tapes. He had even sprayed perfume on it. He pretended to be a railway official and was walking with the trolley bag when we caught him,” police said.
Later, police hatched a plan to nab the receiver and got Neelakanta to call him and ask him to pick up the consignment. Sabeer fell into the trap. While Sabeer has a case of ganja peddling against him in Vivekanagar, Neelakanta has been booked for one in Whitefield.
Train a safe mode to smuggle ganja?
Police said smuggling ganja in trains is an emerging trend as it’s easier and safer than other transportation modes. While police are familiar with the road transport networks used by the drug mafia, the wide rail network reduces risks and is much cheaper, a police said.
A senior police official said, “Drug peddlers generally don’t come to Bengaluru in trains. They get down at smaller railway stations which are on the outskirts or close to Bengaluru. This reduces the risk. At any point, a train will have 1,200-1,500 passengers and it’s impossible to check everyone.”