Editor,
Arrest and seizure of drugs are part of investigation and justice. What we must ensure is that the culprits get convicted in the court and thereby punished for the crime committed. For this, the investigating agency/police have to make proper investigation.
In the investigation process, police seize drugs and a sample is drawn out from the seized drug.
Thereafter, the drawn out drug sample is sent to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) for expert examination. After obtaining the FSL report, the police/IO (investigating officer) files a chargesheet in the court.
Without the FSL report, the police cannot file a chargesheet in the court. An FSL report is vital evidence in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances cases.
In Arunachal, we have one state FSL at the PTC in Banderdewa. Only one NDPS expert is available for the whole state consisting of 125 police stations, which means that work is overloaded for the lone NDPS which leads to delay in generating NDPS report.
Therefore, samples of NDPS cases of Arunachal have to be sent to the CFSL in Guwahati or Kolkata or Chandigarh. This creates hurdles and the investigation process becomes very lengthy. This also gives undue advantage to the culprits.
Now the point is, the state FSL at PTC Banderdewa is running with acute shortage of field experts and modern laboratory facilities.
I insist that the government of Arunachal Pradesh, legal experts and CBOs discuss the issue and look into the FSL matter holistically and on an urgent basis.
Nani Opo,
Social worker,
Ziro