Cops under lens as seized drugs go missing from Delhi police station

The 3kg of narcotics were seized from the house of a murder victim. After they went missing from the police station, they were found near a vacant plot nearby

Police in southwest Delhi’s Kishangarh are probing a curious case — around three kilograms of narcotics substances they recovered and seized from the house of a murder victim earlier this month vanished from the police station, only to be found recently near a vacant plot in the area. Under scanner are now the station house officer (SHO) and three other police personnel against whom an inquiry has been initiated for allegedly tampering with evidence.

On June 11, the SHO and three of his staff were called for questioning about the “missing drugs”. The next day, the drugs were recovered from Kishangarh area. (Representational image)

The SHO has been sent to district lines for the time being, while the other three policemen have been suspended from the station.

It all began on June 9with the alleged murder of a Nepalese man, in his 30s, whose body was found in a street Kishangarh area. On the same day, a murder case was registered, and the probe was handed over to an inspector at the Kishangarh police station.

The investigation led them to the victim’s house at Kishangarh.

A senior police officer said, “The inspector and his staff were investigating the case when they checked the victim’s apartment and found 2-3 kgs of psychotropic substances. We seized all the drugs as per procedure and took them to the police station.”

“But it went missing in two days.”

When the inspector asked SHO Shri Niwas Rajora and the duty officer about the drugs, he did not receive any response.

“The matter was reported to assistant commissioner of police, Safdarjung Enclave, who, along with the inspector, then approached deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Amit Goel about the matter. They informed that the drugs worth ₹2.5 crore were missing,” added the officer cited above, asking not to be named. HT could not verify the accurate international market rate of the narcotics substances due to limited information about the nature of the drugs.

On June 11, the SHO and three of his staff were called for questioning about the “missing drugs”. The next day, the drugs were recovered from Kishangarh area during investigation by the ACP and other senior officers.

Police did not disclose how the location of the drugs was traced.

“Preliminary inquiry revealed the involvement of the SHO and three of his staffers. The three personnel have been suspended from duty for the duration of the investigation, while the SHO has been sent to district lines,” a second officer said, who did not wish to be named.

DCP Goel said, “Inquiry is underway into the allegations.”

HT reached out to the SHO but no did not receive any response.

This is a second such case involving police officers’ alleged involvement in the removal or theft of seized items.

On May 31, a Delhi Police head constable was arrested for allegedly stealing ₹80 lakh in cash and jewellery worth crores from the Special Cell’s malkhana at Lodhi Road police station.

The accused, HC Khursheed, 32, was arrested and has been sent to judicial custody after police found he earlier worked at the malkhana and had duplicated its key to later steal valuable items.