Two days after claiming to have busted a drug trafficking racket of methamphetamine (crystal meth) worth Rs 3.2 crore on trains, the South Western Railway (SWR) backtracked on Monday, stating that the seized material was in fact menthol.
On Saturday, the SWR claimed that police from its Railway Protection Force (RPF), Bengaluru division, had nabbed a person the previous evening carrying the banned narcotics worth Rs 3.2 crore. The person allegedly tried to escape from Prasanthi Express at Hindupur when RPF personnel nabbed him.
On Monday, the SWR issued a clarification stating that after the seizure, samples were sent to the lab where the tests proved that the seized material was not a narcotic substance.
“The lab report has confirmed that the seized material is not methamphetamine but menthol crystals, which are an exact look-alike,” a release from the railways said.
The railways blamed the accused person for the mistake. “The suspect who had been carrying the material stealthily on board the train had claimed in his statement that it was methamphetamine and worth around Rs 3 crore,” it said, adding that further investigation is underway.
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