Carriers get caught, dealers at large
The goons try to remain a step ahead of the cops, but every so often they are outrun by law enforcers and land behind bars.
Hyderabad: The goons try to remain a step ahead of the cops, but every so often they are outrun by law enforcers and land behind bars.
Even so, in about 80 per cent of the cases, it is the carriers of the contraband whom the police end up nabbing while the real culprits remain at bay.
“This is because the carriers themselves do not know much about the background of senders or the receivers of the stuff they are carrying. They are brought in as carriers by middlemen and are paid small amounts,” says a police official.
The carriers or ‘transporters’ are paid about Rs 5,000 for carrying a consignment of 20kg. The cannabis is hidden in a general compartment or sleeper coach somewhere on the train. The carrier is made to sit in an AC coach. Only when they are close to the destination, they collect the bags and hand it over to the receiver, the police say.
Unlike roadways where the police can fix responsibility of the vehicle in which the contraband is transported, this option gets ruled out in train travel. “We just seize the contraband and register a case against unknown persons,” says railway protection force inspector Rajagopal.