In a major bust, the Railway Protection Force's (RPF) Crime Intelligence Branch (CIB) and Government Railway Police (GRP) seized contraband narcotics worth Rs 86 lakhs in Assam's Lumding on Monday.

As per reports, the joint operation was carried out early today morning with the aim of locating and detaining an active gang that stole mobile phones and other valuable belongings from passengers inside running trains.

The joint operation team initially boarded the train numbered 22504 Vivek Express with the objective of nabbing the petty thieves. The officials were managed to nab two members of the gang from the running train.

However, when they were taken in for questioning, officials came across startling revelations. During their interrogation, it came to the fore that the gang was also involved in a major drug trafficking racket and smuggled brown sugar through trains.

Moreover, based on the statements of the nabbed duo, a further operation was carried out at Dimapur Railway Station where another seven members of the gang were detained.

Officials said that they found 430 grams of narcotics from their possession which was estimated to be worth around Rs 86 lakhs in the illicit markets.

In addition to that, the officials also seized as many as nine mobile phones and liquid cash from the possession of the gang members.

Meanwhile, a total of nine people were detained in connection with the matter. They were identified as Dilwar Hussain, Asad Ali, Mashuk Hussain, Newton Das, Morshid Ali, Bipul Das, Mukesh Kumar, Anowar Hussain, and Shankar Dutta.

Those detained by the investigation team belong from Assam's Nagaon and Dimapur in neighboring state Nagaland.

They have been taken in and the police is interrogating them as they expect more people to be connected to the gang. Officials have also assured that everyone involved will be brought to justice.