Despite intensified checking in long-distance trains, the special squads of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) are yet to nab any of the main carriers of banned tobacco and pan masala products, other than recovering seemingly abandoned stocks from compartments, platforms, and parcel rooms.
Moreover, the closed circuit television cameras on the railway station premises here remain ineffective thanks to technical glitches. As a result, there has been practically no tracking of frequent carriers.
Police sources say a huge portion of smuggled pan masala and tobacco products reaches the city by train with the help of migrant labourers.
According to them, illegal suppliers are cashing in on the delay in streamlining the Railway parcel service. A thorough screening of parcels should be done at all levels at railway stations to arrest the trend, they argue.
RPF officials, who are now part of the routine inspections, say parcels containing banned goods are rarely escorted by agents, and that it is difficult for the squad members to track them on trains. The usual practice is to send parcels by train in an abandoned manner and direct local agents to collect them from a particular station evading surveillance, they add.
RPF officials also point out that inspection of suspicious baggage in trains have been found successful in checking the unlawful trade. According to them, any follow-up investigation of such cases is the responsibility of the GRP. For the record, an RPF team had seized around 300 kg of banned tobacco products from the Kozhikode railway station on Saturday.
Though the Excise Department squads too are cooperating with RPF squads in conducting surprise checks in trains, it has not been possible to arrest any of the kingpins involved in the frequent smuggling of Indian Made Foreign Liquor by train from Goa and Mahe.
Excise Department sources say joint inspections are conducted only during festival seasons owing to staff shortage, and that the unknown carriers can be exposed only if a permanent checking squad is formed.
