When asked to produce the confiscated drugs, police officer submits an application and blames rats for “destroying” 10 kg bhaang and 9 kg ganja
Six years ago, 10 kg bhang and 9 kg ganja was confiscated and stored at the Rajganj police station in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand. This was because, on December 14, 2018, Shambhu Prasad Agrawal and his son were arrested for the possession of illegal drugs, following which an FIR was lodged against them.
As the trial continued, the confiscated drugs were demanded to be produced in front of the court on April 6, 2024. However, in an unusual turn of events, Investigating Officer Jayprakash Prasad submitted an application instead of the narcotics from the officer-in-charge of the police station, stating that the narcotics had been “destroyed by rats”.
This incident is receiving wide media attention all over the country and this revelation was made in a report submitted to Principal District and Sessions Judge Ram Sharma by the police, following a directive to present the seized substances in court. The officer in charge of Rajganj police station claimed in the report that the stored narcotics were entirely destroyed by rats, a claim for which a report was also registered at the police station.
This course of action led the defense lawyer, Abhay Bhatt, to suggest that his client might have been wrongfully accused, given the police's failure to produce the seized materials in court.