BHOPAL: The Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh high court has denied bail to a delivery boy who was arrested as part of a probe into a racket that allegedly used the Amazon network to smuggle marijuana. The Madhya Pradesh special task force (STF) has now constituted a special team to probe the case.
Accused Jeeru Kumar Swami Rao of Tamil Nadu, who had moved the bail application, was arrested by Bhind police on December 6, 2021, in connection with the case registered at Gohad Chauraha police station in MP's Bhind district. He has been charged under Sections 8/20 (B), 29 and 38 of the NDPS Act.
Police say a whopping 1 tonne marijuana, worth over Rs 1 crore, was transported on the e-commerce network in the guise of 'curry leaf' or 'stevia leaf' shipments. Amazon had earlier issued a statement that it's cooperating with police and investigating if there was 'non-compliance' of its set norms by a seller.
According to Jeeru's counsel, he was a delivery boy and not aware of the contents of the parcels he was delivering. The prosecution says ganja was being delivered via the e-commerce platform in the guise of 'stevia leaves'. After hearing arguments, Justice G S Ahluwalia ruled, "Considering the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, this court is of the considered opinion that no case is made out for grant of bail".
Drugs were shipped as stevia or curry leaves
Bhind Police had registered a case against the executive directors of Amazon India in the matter. They have been booked under NDPS Act. According to an official release, police found 'contradictions' in the reply filed by Amazon and evidence they have collected.
IPS officer Manoj Singh, who had led the operation as SP Bhind, has now been transferred to STF, where he will be heading the special team investigating it.
Amazon India has denied allegations of non-cooperation. In an official correspondence with TOI, it said: "Amazon extends full-cooperation to law enforcement agencies, and even in the present marijuana case, we have remained committed to the investigation. Amazon.in officials have held several rounds of discussions with MP Police since the issue was first notified to us. We are in the process of gathering relevant information, as requested by the local investigating authorities, and are well on course to submitting them within the stipulated deadline." Amazon had said it doesn't allow listing and sale of products banned in India and is investigating if there was 'non-compliance' by a seller.
Two suspects - Suraj alias Kallu Pawaiyya and Bijendra Singh - were arrested near a dhaba on Bhind-Gwalior highway, and 20kg marijuana that they were allegedly transporting via the e-commerce network was seized. Singh runs the dhaba. Kallu used to smuggle marijuana, tagged as 'curry leaves', from Andhra Pradesh and deliver it via e-commerce in Bhopal, Gwalior, Kota and Agra, say police. The marijuana was allegedly smuggled through a 'seller company' registered in Visakhapatnam.
The cyber cell had been keeping a watch on Kallu and a team was set up under then SP Manoj Kumar Singh and ASP Kamlesh Kumar, which moved in for the arrest.
