Gauhati HC Orders Probe Into Missing Drugs from 2022 Karbi Anglong Case

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has asked Assam's DGP to probe the disappearance of more than 1995 grams of suspected heroin seized in a May 2022 drug bust in Karbi Anglong.

The court order came as the investigation officer admitted he didn't know where the seized drugs were, causing two accused's conviction to be overturned.

On 8th May, 2022, Drugges were seized when law enforcers detained a vehicle at Dillai in Karbi Anglong and recovered 1,995.29 grams of suspected heroin from 152 boxes. Two people who were arrested and convicted during July 2023 with ten years of imprisonment.

A key reason for this result was the sorry state of the handling of the drugs confiscated. The police investigating officer admitted he did not know where the drugs were and could not produce evidence that they were kept safe or destroyed.

The appellate court stated it was "highly disturbing" that during the trial, evidence to prove the drugs were destroyed was not produced; neither was it possible for the investigating officer to even indicate where the drugs were.

This brought to question the integrity of the investigation and whether legal process under the NDPS Act was followed in the right procedure .

The court noticed that even when the investigating officer claimed that the drugs were sent to the court, there was no proof or paper work to this effect. Nor did it have any record that the drugs as seized by the court or otherwise disposed as per the rule of law.

The Officer-in-Charge of the Dillai police station had already received an order from a magistrate to submit a disposal request in respect of the drug to the District Drug Disposal Committee within 30 days of receiving the forensic report. No such evidence was found by the High Court.

It was the observation of the court that no record was found in the trial court or in the magistrate's court that the narcotic drugs had been put within the custody of the court or finally disposed of. No record was found of any action taken by the District Drug Disposal Committee relating to the narcotic drugs.