The Government Railway Police (GRP) on Tuesday night apprehended a kingpin of the dreaded supari syndicate from a train at Guwahati Railway station.

The security forces also seized a large amount of imported supari from his possession. The arrested individual has been identified as Anil Bhareja.

According to an official statement, the GRP had halted the Avadh Assam express at the railway station that had arrived on Tuesday night. Upon checking, the GRP seized 250 packets of imported supari being allegedly smuggled from Myanmar.

The train was en-route Lalgarh in Bikaner from Dibrughar (via Dimapur, Guwahati, and Delhi). It is learned that the supari was loaded onto the train at Dimpur.

The estimated cost of the seized supari consignment is said to be around Rs 70 lakh.

The seized contraband is currently being kept at Guwahati Railway station and is awaiting further legal proceedings.

Meanwhile, a case under relevant sections was registered against Bhareja. An investigation to unearth further linkages is on.

Last month, the Cachar Police seized two trucks filled with illegal Burmese supari weighing around 3000 kgs from Lailapur along the Assam-Mizoram Border.

The two trucks were seized after the police conducted a naka checking at the Lailapur Patrol Post. The two trucks were transporting the illegal contraband from Mizoram to Assam’s Cachar.

The supari was packed in secret chambers of the truck, the police said. The value of the seized supari is worth lakhs of rupees in the market.

In connection to this, the police have arrested the drivers of the two trucks and a co-pilot of the truck.