Bengaluru railway stations see sharp rise in ganja smuggling as Odisha route emerges key link

A young couple’s arrest at Cantonment station has exposed a growing narcotics network using Bengaluru-bound trains, especially from Odisha, as ganja seizures hit record levels.

A major narcotics smuggling pattern has come to light in Bengaluru after the arrest of a young couple from West Bengal, who were caught with over 21 kg of ganja at the Cantonment railway station on August 2. Humayun Kabir, 21, and Rimpa Khatun, 26, both from Murshidabad, were detained by Karnataka railway police after their suspicious behaviour drew attention. A search of their baggage revealed 21.16 kg of ganja, leading to a full investigation and a chargesheet filed on November 11.

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Police officials said the couple regularly travelled from Bengaluru to Odisha by flight and returned with large consignments of ganja by train, mainly using the Prashanti Express, which operates daily between Bhubaneswar and Bengaluru. According to investigators, a portion of the narcotics was transported onwards to Kerala for sale, while the remaining stock was handed over to peddlers within Bengaluru. The duo worked at a plywood unit but reportedly used it as a front for their smuggling activities.

Railway police noted that trains have increasingly become the preferred transport route for ganja entering Bengaluru from Odisha and border regions of Andhra Pradesh. NDPS cases linked to such smuggling have surged, from 12 cases and 14 arrests in 2021 to 64 cases and 59 arrests this year. Since 2021, the police have registered 220 NDPS cases and seized 2,163 kg of ganja worth ₹16.57 crore, with annual seizures exceeding ₹5 crore.

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Among Bengaluru’s stations, Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal (SMVT) at Byappanahalli has emerged as the biggest hotspot. In the past year alone, police there registered 14 cases involving 89 kg of ganja worth ₹67.5 lakh. The city railway station recorded 78 kg seized in 12 cases, while the Cantonment station accounted for 106 kg across 10 cases.

Significantly, 23 out of the 58 NDPS cases registered this year involved passengers travelling on the Prashanti Express, highlighting the train’s central role in the expanding smuggling network.