ALAPPUZHA: A major haul of ganja, weighing more than 90 kilograms, from the platform of the Chengannur railway station by excise officials late on Friday night, has given rise to several theories on the origin of the contraband.

The ganja, hidden in five gunny bags, was found on the railway platform immediately after the Howrah-Nagercoil Gurudeva Express departed. Excise officials, acting on a tip-off from their Intelligence wing, were searching passengers alighting from the train from Thrissur onwards. However, they were not able to search the air-conditioned compartments since they did not have the permission of Railway officials and it was in one of these compartments that the carriers of the contraband were travelling, officials believe.

"We believe they were in a group, mostly women and children so as to avoid suspicion. They must have seen the checking going on in other coaches and could have abandoned the stuff on the platform. We have registered a case and investigation is on," a senior Excise official said.

Similar cases

Officials said though there were several occasions on which illegal spirit carriers were nabbed from trains, a haul of ganja from a train was the first such incident in Alappuzha district. However, smuggling of ganja on trains and similar incidents of the stuff being abandoned on railway platforms were not new in the State and elsewhere, officials said.

On July 1, 2004, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) had seized three bags of ganja, totalling 35 kg, at Kochi. The bags were spotted on the Kochi-Baroni Express. RPF officials, following an anonymous call, were monitoring the train from Aluva onwards.

Though the entire train was searched for suspects, none could be arrested and by the time the train reached the station, the bags were found abandoned.

In April 2006, Railway Police at Bangalore arrested a man who was moving suspiciously in the Cantonment railway station and seized from him 35 kg of ganja. The man, Shankar, was from Warangal in Andhra Pradesh.

Though there has been no concrete lead as to where the ganja was being brought from or where it was being taken to, officials believe that the origin could be mostly Andhra Pradesh. The reason is similar arrests and seizures earlier.

In October 2004, Chathannur Excise Circle officials had seized 10 kg of ganja from a car and arrested three persons.

The accused had then confessed that the ganja was brought from Vijayawada and was to be distributed to drug peddlers here, officials said. In July 1998 too, they point out, the Surat Railway Police had arrested two persons from Warangal at the Surat railway station along with 16 kg of ganja.

"Andhra Pradesh has been one of the regular origins, particularly Warangal.

In this case though, we are yet to get any leads, except that the train passes through Andhra. The carriers could have boarded the train from Vijayawada or Rajahmundry," an official said.

Maoist connection?

Another theory, fuelled by recent arrests by the Warangal police, is that Maoists could have an indirect role in the smuggling of ganja from Andhra to neighbouring States, including Kerala.

The Warangal police led by District Superintendent of Police Soumya Misra had recently arrested around 12 people for selling ganja and using the money to buy weapons that were in turn sold to various naxal groups in the State.

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