: Within the last nine months, the Kozhikode Railway police seized 31,143 packets of banned tobacco products, worth Rs. 10 lakh in the open market, from the Kozhikode Railway station. Officials confirmed that all these items were shipped through the Railways’ parcel booking service.
As per the official records, only two persons were so far arrested in connection with these cases as tracing the identity of the persons involved was proving to be a difficult task in the absence of a proper record. “We could have traced the cases, if the railways had a proper management system to maintain the details of both the sender and receiver of the consignment for further references,” officials said.
Along with the banned tobacco products, the Railway police wing here also took into custody around 40.46 litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor during the term. Though it was not sent using the parcel service, police officials said that they managed to arrest seven persons in connection with these 12 cases so far registered.
In the case of banned tobacco products, police officials attest that the migrant workers are the biggest clients in Kozhikode district. “Inquiry is underway to check whether these workers are secretly involved in the transportation of banned stuff using the railway network,” officials said.
