Indian Police Unable to Submit Seized Marijuana as Evidence
Police Claim "Rats Gnawed It" ... Court Demands Evidence Submission
[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Indian police failed to present hundreds of kilograms of marijuana seized from drug offenders as evidence in court. The reason was that rats had gnawed on the marijuana stored in a warehouse.
According to a recent CNN report, the Mathura court in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, ordered the police to present 386kg of marijuana seized during a drug offender trial as evidence.
However, the police came up empty-handed. The police claimed that the marijuana, which had been secured as evidence and stored in a warehouse, was gnawed away by rats. Previously, the Mathura police also claimed that over 500kg of marijuana seized in various cases had been destroyed by attacks from rodents, including rats.
The prosecution believes that an even larger amount of marijuana was damaged due to a rat infestation. According to court documents, the prosecution found that a total of 700kg of marijuana, seized by the police and stored in various locations around Mathura during other investigations, had disappeared.
The court ordered the police to submit evidence proving that rats actually consumed the marijuana. It also recommended establishing measures to eradicate the rats. However, CNN reported that opinions differ on whether rats were truly the cause of the marijuana's disappearance. Mathand Prakash Singh, the Mathura police chief, reportedly told CNN, "The marijuana disappeared not because of rats, but due to flooding."
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