Noting that narcotics control agencies should wake up to the serious problem of disappearance and recirculation of seized contraband drugs, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the government to consider providing dedicated safe custody and storage space with round-the-clock surveillance in every State.
A Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and Kurian Joseph said drugs seized during raids — heroin, hashish and ganja — were stored in the local police malkhanas , from where they had an uncanny tendency to “disappear.” Besides, no records were kept of their safe custody or destruction.
Justice T.S. Thakur remarked that of the 60 lakh-kg contraband seized in the past decade, only 16 lakh kg had been found to be destroyed.
“We are trying to stop this pilferage. You have a serious problem. You have to use your resources and sort out this problem,” Justice Thakur told Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar. The court asked the Solicitor-General to consult his officers and come out with details, by Thursday, of a process through which drugs could be stored safely.
A visibly annoyed Supreme Court on August 25 asked the Centre whether the law enforcement agencies were duping the public by burning “cow dung” instead of seized contraband. The court said crores of illicit drugs seized during raids re-enter the market through low-level officers in the law enforcement agencies who take advantage of chinks in the storage and safe custody mechanism.
The narcotics and psychotropic substances seized have to be kept in safe custody for evidentiary purposes during trial. The trial, however, may prolong for years. Even results of drugs sent for analysis may take years. All this contributes to pilferage from the malkhanas.
