Investigation lapses lead to acquittal in ganja cases in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: City police, who are claiming a major crackdown on ganja suppliers, are failing to prove charges against those arrested in the courts. Several such cases registered by the city police have ended in acquittal.

Ironically, they also include cases investigated by the anti-narcotics cell (ANC), a specialised wing under central crime station (CCS) of Hyderabad.

In all such cases, the court pointed out that the way authorities were bypassing guidelines as mandated by the NDPS Act from the time of arrest to the completion of investigation and several other lapses, were fatal to the case.

In one of the cases reported in 2014, task force sleuths nabbed a UP migrant worker and three others at Secunderabad and seized 1.5 kg of drugs from them and claimed it to be opium. The case was later handed over to ANC for further investigation.

However, the forensic science lab found that the samples collected from the accused were ganja and not opium, the court observed.

“As there is a discrepancy with regard to the type of the contraband seized, it renders the entire case suspicious and doubtful,” ruled the court.

In another case, 1.05 kg of ganja was seized from a peddler on September 22, 2016, but the samples were sent to forensic analysis after a two-week delay on October 5.

“There is no evidence of where the property (ganja) was kept during the period and reasons for the delay were not explained by the investigating officer. Thus, the lapses in investigation cast doubts,” the court contended.

In another case reported in June 2016, police acted on a tip-off that two persons were transporting ganja in a car and seized the substance from them. But during examination in court, cops admitted that the accused were outside the car and tried to flee on seeing them. Terming this contradiction as a major lapse, the court acquitted the accused.