Tamil Nadu: Youth from Odisha held for smuggling 25 kg ganja in train

TIRUCHY: A youth from Odisha who smuggled 25 kgs of ganja in the Howrah-Kanniyakumari Express train was arrested by the railway police, while the mastermind behind the act had escaped from the police on Wednesday.

It is said that while the railway police headed by Inspector Thooyamani Vellaisamy were patrolling in Tiruchy junction railway station in the wee hours of Tuesday, they suspected the behaviour of a passenger travelling from the first class AC coach at Howrah-Kanniyakumari express train. Soon, the police interrogated him and searched his belongings, in which they found that he had smuggled 25 kgs of ganja, and soon, they seized the pack of ganja and arrested him.

Upon inquiry, he was identified as Palyabehera (26), a resident of Surmani village in Odisha. Subsequently, the railway police handed him over to the Prohibition wing police, and he was later produced before the court and was lodged in the central prison.

Meanwhile, the railway police who conducted the investigation found that Palyabehera was convinced by the ganja mastermind from Odisha, Sanjayya (25), who had offered him Rs 20,000 to smuggle the contraband. 

When the police attempted to secure Sanjayya, he escaped from the police. The seized ganja stock was estimated to be Rs 12.78 lakh, the police said.