Four members of a drug syndicate were arrested in Delhi for smuggling narcotics through the railway parcel service, police officers familiar with the matter said on Sunday, adding that 160kg of poppy straw smuggled in railway parcels from Jharkhand were recovered from the suspects, and that two vehicles used to transport the contraband were also seized.
The arrested suspects were identified as Pappu Kumar, 37, a contractual employee at the Old Delhi railway station parcel office; Sonu, 33, and Chand, 39, both professional drivers who go by their first names, and Farukh Ansari, 24, said investigators. Sonu and Chand usually transported goods from the Old Delhi railway station to various locations, while Ansari has been trafficking drugs for at least five years, said investigators. According to special commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav, Ansari was involved in a drug peddling case in Ghaziabad in 2015.
According to Yadav, the crime branch team led by deputy commissioner of police (crime) Sanjay Bhatia recently received information about the smuggling of poppy straw via the railway parcel service and the involvement of a contractual employee at the Old Delhi railway station’s parcel office. The police began an investigation and discovered that a consignment of poppy straw was on its way to the station on the Jammu-Tawi express train from Tatanagar in Jharkhand.
“On August 22, we set a trap near the Kodia flyover beside the railway station. Our team apprehended Pappu Kumar, Sonu, and Chand with two tempos and seized four bags containing 160kg of poppy straw. Their interrogation resulted in the arrest of Farukh Ansari, who was to receive the contraband consignment,” added Yadav.
DCP Bhatia said that during the interrogation, Kumar revealed that he had been smuggling drugs for the past six months and had received ₹10,000 for successfully receiving and delivering each parcel of contraband. He said that 1,600kg of poppy straw was smuggled through railway parcels and delivered to various recipients in the past six months, DCP Bhatia added.
“The parcels were sent in Kumar’s name disguised as ready-made garments. Kumar easily arranged the parcels’ release without scrutiny because he was in the parcel office. He used Sonu and Chand to deliver the contraband parcels to the recipients. The drivers were also compensated with a commission,” said DCP Bhatia.
