55 year-old caught with sleep-inducing drug

DIMAPUR, APRIL 15 (MExN): The next time you board a train or any means of public transport, be wary of stranger(s) who might act wee pleasant and welcoming. The practice of befriending gullible travellers by criminal elements with the intent of robbing their newfound friends in trains is not a new phenomenon. However, of late, there has been a steady surge of instances where passengers get drugged out cold only to wake up to find personal belongings stolen. 

It had prompted the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to set up the Anti-Drugging Cell, specifically designed to counter the menace. Personnel from this cell are said to be keeping round the clock vigil at railway stations, on the lookout for suspicious characters.   The RPF unit stationed at the Dimapur Railway Station also has an Anti-Drugging Cell. On the night of April 14, the Cell successfully foiled one such attempt, the second in the past three weeks, arresting a 55 year-old man. From the man was recovered 1000 milligrams of sleep-inducing Ativan drug in a powdered form. 

He was identified as Dilip Ray, a habitual offender of the kind, hailing from Abhayapuri, Bongaigaon, Assam. 

According to the officer-in-charge of the RPF unit in Dimapur, Rokonicha Pucha, Ray had travelled by the Mariani Special Train from Guwahati alighting at the Dimapur railway station around 9:30 pm. His conspicuous movements at the platform attracted the attention of the Anti-Drugging cell, comprising SI PR Meena, ASI Roman Singh and constable KL Emerson, who were led by Pucho. The Cell eventually arrested the man and a case has been registered at the Government Railway Police Station, Dimapur.  

It was also discovered that Ray had recently got out of prison in Guwahati after serving a three-month sentence for a similar offence. Prior to his jail term, he had operated between Guwahati-Rangia-Bongaigaon stretches of the North-east Frontier Railway (NFR). Since he was already a known offender on that part of the NFR, he shifted based, operating between Guwahati and Dimapur. However, only, to get caught again.