Kochi: Two youths, who were arrested for possessing ganja, have escaped from the custody of the Excise sleuths here. Syedali, 22, of Eravipuram, and Yaseen, 21, of Thattavala, of Kollam escaped from the lockup at the excise commissioner's office in Kacheripady on Wednesday morning.
The duo was taken into custody by the Railway Police Force (RPF) with 3.24 kg of ganja from Ernakulam South railway station on Tuesday. They were caught in a joint operation involving sleuths of the RPF's crime intelligence wing and excise department during a preventive check against the transportation of contraband items. The youngsters were taken into custody after cops found them on platform 4 in a suspicious manner.
The contraband was kept hidden in two backpack bags carried by the youth. The substance is valued at around Rs 1.62 lakh, officials said.
Excise Range Inspector, Ernakulam, registered a case against them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and seized the ganja. The arrested were to be presented in court on Wednesday.
