Railway police arrest key accused in ganja smuggling case

Kochi: Railway police arrested a key accused involved in smuggling ganja to the district via train from Jharkhand.The arrested person Debu Mahata, a temporary bedroll staff member on trains, realised that police were pursuing him at the Tata Nagar railway station in Jharkhand. He evaded police pursuit and went into hiding. He is from Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal. A police team led by Ernakulam railway police inspector Balan K tracked the accused for three days and arrested him on March 22. He was hiding in a remote area of Jharkhand while working as a watermelon trader. The case pertains to the NDPS Act case registered at Ernakulam railway police station. Sukhlal Tudu, one among the accused, was caught smuggling ganja by train from Tata Nagar in Jharkhand to the district at Ernakulam South railway station. Deepak, a key distributor from Palakkad and Swarup, an accomplice from Paravur, were also arrested while handing over 52.8kg of ganja. They were arrested on Nov 26, 2025. Further investigation by Ernakulam railway police revealed that more individuals were involved in the smuggling network, leading to the formation of a special investigation team conducting inquiries in West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand. Meanwhile, Tabraiz from Fort Kochi, who provided financial assistance for smuggling, was arrested on Feb 17. Mahata was presented at Jamshedpur principal and district sessions court to obtain a transit warrant for bringing him to Kerala. The accused was presented on Friday at Ernakulam judicial first-class magistrate court, which remanded him for 14 days and sent him to Ernakulam Sub Jail. Further investigation into the case is ongoing, police said.