Aug. 20: The promise of Rs 5,000 and the safety of being an insider. Manish Kumar, a 25-year-old railway “bedroll” employee, thought nothing could go wrong as he carefully tucked packets of Manipuri ganja into the folds of bedsheets and towels in a Rajdhani Express coach.

As the train rolled into Guwahati railway station this morning, Kumar was rudely shocked. A team of GRP personnel was on his scent and the only way out for Kumar was to take to his heels.

What followed was a half-an-hour game of cat-and-mouse that left passengers bewildered and the railway department red-faced.

A GRP official said the youth was transporting a huge 82-kg contraband from Dimapur to Patna. He had received the consignment in the Nagaland capital, for which he was paid a few thousands of rupees. Police finally nabbed him from another coach of the train, ending the lengthy chase at the station.

Manipuri ganja is valued at about Rs 3,000 a kg.

Narrating the sequence of events, a GRP source said the force had received specific information about the contraband being ferried in compartment No. 9 of the Delhi-bound train, and launched a search as soon as the train arrived at the station.

“During the search, the ganja was found concealed under bedroll containing bedsheets, pillow covers, blankets and towels. As soon as we recovered the consignment, Kumar fled the spot. Though he was chased by the police, he managed to mingle with the crowd,” the officer said. “Following a thorough search, he was nabbed from another compartment of the train.”

The operation delayed the departure of the train by over 30 minutes.

Kumar, who hails from Baisali district of Bihar, has been arrested and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. He was remanded in judicial custody after being produced in court this evening.

“During interrogation, the accused said the contraband was handed over to him by one Nakul at Dimapur railway station. Kumar was paid Rs 5,000 for carrying it to Patna, where he was supposed to hand it over to another person,” the GRP source said.

Manipuri ganja has a huge market in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Drug peddlers are increasingly using passenger trains to ferry their booty and Guwahati railway station appears to be an easy stopover point. Hours after the first haul, another consignment of ganja was recovered from the Calcutta-bound Kamrup Express today. The contraband, weighing 13 kg, was found inside an unclaimed bag. No one has been arrested.

The GRP official said the force has been recovering at least one ganja consignment from passenger trains every week on an average.