Trains: the new haven for smugglers

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">KISHANGANJ: The recent seizure of contraband foreign goods from brake vans of Kolkata-bound express trains is a pointer towards the fact that smugglers have started using railways for drug trafficking. The new modus operandi is relatively "safer and less costly", said customs officials.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">The overlords in the illicit trade, who generally depend upon road transport, have started taking recourse to rail routes during the last fortnight.Customs officials, prodded by reliable clues, raided SLR (Second Class Luggage Rooms) bogies of long distance trains like 3148 Uttarbang Express, 3150 Kanchankanya Express and 3142 Teesta Torsa Express, and seized contraband consignments worth several lakhs which were neatly tucked and booked in them, customs officials said.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Customs superintendent Harish Chandra, talking to the Times News Network, here on Sunday, said, "The smugglers preferred rail routes because it was relatively safe and less costly". Conventional road transport exposed them to more risks and vulnerability."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Seizures of contraband goods from important trains commuting between North Bengal and Kolkata and passing through Kishanganj in Bihar could not be possible without the connivance of railway officials. So much so that even prestigious Rajdhani Express has now turned much preferred conduit for them, say customs officials.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Chandra said his meeting with Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Katihar has lately proved a boon following which Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) are now "extending right cooperation".</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">A Customs inspector, on the condition of anonymity, however, said railway officials, GRP and RPF were hand-in-glove with traffickers.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">GRP officer-in-charge (OC) Awdesh Kumar, who has lately tightened noose, said, "If information is passed on to us, we surely co-operate with Customs sleuths."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">He, however, asserted only if railway officials genuinely co-operated, contraband consignments could never be loaded or booked in SLR Vans.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">He said SP (Railway) had recently discussed combined measures to effectively curb the menace.</span></div> </div>