Kolkata man held with 3.64 kg suspected cannabis at Guwahati railway station

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.

The operation was carried out by personnel of the Crime Prevention and Detection Squad (CPDS), RPF Guwahati, as part of intensified surveillance against drug trafficking, theft and other anti-social activities at the railway station.

According to the RPF, the accused, identified as Abhimanyu Basu, a resident of Kolkata, was intercepted in a suspicious condition at 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 the 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 further reportedly claimed that he had received the suspected cannabis from his girlfriend in Shillong and was instructed to hand over the consignment at a location in NJP, details of which were to be communicated to him later.

According to the information shared by the RPF, Basu also told investigators that he did not know the identity of the person who was supposed to receive the consignment.

The suspected contraband was seized following due procedure in the presence of witnesses. The information gathered regarding the alleged source of the consignment, its intended destination and the prospective recipient was subsequently 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 has 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.