Bhubaneswar, April 22: Drug smugglers are increasingly using the rail route to transport consignments of contraband within and outside the state.

In the last few months railway police and excise officials have seized bhang and ganja several times following raids on trains and railway platforms. On April 16, the excise department and the special task force of the railways conducted a joint raid at the Bhubaneswar railway station and seized 40kg of ganja worth more than Rs 2 lakh before it could be loaded into a train. The officials arrested one Md. Javed who was carrying the contraband.

The accused said he was hired by a south Indian smuggler. “I was not aware what had been packed in the bags. He had already booked my ticket and asked me to carry the stuff,” he said.

Two days before this, officials seized three quintals of bhang from Bhubaneswar and two quintals from Jatani railway station.

Three persons were arrested from Bhubaneswar for carrying the contraband with them. According to excise officials the contraband was being transported to Orissa from Bihar on the occasion of Pana sankranti.

Similarly, on February 1 the Railway Protection Force (RPF) along with excise officials had seized seven bags of bhang worth more than Rs 1 lakh. No arrest took place in this case as the goons had fled anticipating a raid.

Excise officials said in the last six months they had conducted 12 raids at Bhubaneswar and Jatani railway stations and seized more than 15 quintals of bhang, 10 quintals of ganja and two quintals of opium.

Excise superintendent Laxmi Kanta Behera said the smugglers knew that transportation of drugs by road was difficult as there were many toll gates and motor vehicles inspectors to check them. “Hence, they prefer the railways,” said Behera.

Railway police officials said the mafia themselves never carried the material. They hired people after luring them with money.

“Normally they use leprosy patients and women whom few people would suspect. The mafia never hire the same person again,” said B. Ramu, inspector-in-charge of RPF Bhubaneswar.

Officials said the rail route was preferred because there was not much checking en route. “Once loaded, the stuff, in all likelihood, would reach its destination,” said a RPF official.

Drug related offences are dealt under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act but the procedure of seizure mentioned in the legislation is so complicated that offenders often get off the hook.

“Again the police are overburdened with the normal law and order maintenance work. Hence, they often follow the procedure correctly resulting in acquittals,” said the official.