The Madhya Pradesh Police seized 17 kg more marijuana and arrested one more person in Mehgaon of Bhind district on Monday as part of the investigation into an alleged online marijuana smuggling racket. With this, the total number of people arrested has risen to five and total seizure to 38 kg.
The officials of Amazon India, who have been made accused in the case, refused to cooperate with the investigation, Bhind Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar told THE WEEK.
An Amazon India spokesperson, however, told THE WEEK over e-mail: “Reports that Amazon executives have been arrested or charged as part of this case are incorrect and we are not aware of any Amazon executives being named in the investigation. On the contrary, Amazon continues to assist with the investigation. There are media reports of third party delivery contractors being investigated, but we cannot confirm these reports.”
The police recovered 17 kg of ganja and two packaging materials with marking of Amazon India from a person identified as Shivkumar Sharma who was arrested from Kheria Chandan village in Mehgaon on Monday, the SP said. The arrest and seizure was made using the information given by accused Suraj alias Kallu Pavaiya, who along with one Pintu alias Bijendra Tomar, had been arrested with 21 kg of ganja on November 13 from Gohad.
Based on the information, Mukul Jaiswal, a resident of Gwalior and one Chitra Balmik from Mehgaon had also been arrested on the same day. Jaiswal and Pavaiya allegedly formed a fake seller company and registered themselves with the e-commerce platform Amazon to order marijuana from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh under the guise of 'stevia leaves' or 'curry leaves'. This marijuana was then supplied by Jaiswal and Pavaiya to customers in places in and outside Madhya Pradesh, including Bhopal, Gwalior, Agra and Kota. Chitra Balmik was one such customer.
Following investigation, the Bhind police registered a case under Section 38 of the NDPS (Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act against the executive directors of Amazon India in connection with the alleged smuggling of ganja through the e-commerce network, on November 20.
The officer said the company had responded to a questionnaire sent out by the police, but when the details were checked, they turned out to be false.
The SP said the bank account and GST number details of the seller company registered on the e-commerce platform (as shared by Amazon) turned out to be fake. “Since Section 38 of NDPS makes the directors of a company culpable for omission and negligence, a case was registered against executive directors of Amazon India,” Kumar said.
The SP said while a lawyer of the company had enquired about the details of FIR registered on November 20, no official of the company contacted the police either on telephone or physically.
Meanwhile, following information provided by the police, the Special Enforcement Bureau of the Visakhapatnam Police arrested four persons – one of them allegedly a van driver and two pickup boys of Amazon India and the main accused, Chilkapati Srinivas Rao alias Basu – who would supply ganja to Jaiswal and Pavaiya in Madhya Pradesh using the Amazon delivery staff, the SP said. One accused managed to escape the Vishakhapatnam police.
He also said during the course of the investigation it has come to light that the accused had undertaken 384 transactions as part of the alleged ganja smuggling racket in 20 districts. “There seems to be a huge amount involved but the exact details can become available only when the Amazon officials cooperate with the probe. They have a social responsibility as they are earning a lot from this country and the drug consignments are going to education hubs like Kota and therefore young people are in danger.”
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra had on Sunday said Amazon India had failed to respond to the warnings and were not cooperating with the probe and therefore the FIR was registered under NDPS Act against its officials, after it was found that fake details of the seller company was involved. He said online trading of psychotropic substances was a graver crime and any such activity will not be allowed in the state.
Full cooperation to law enforcement agencies: Amazon India
In reply to an e-mail query by THE WEEK on the issue, an Amazon spokesperson said, “Amazon, as a matter of company policy, extends full cooperation to law enforcement agencies in the event of any bad actor operating on the Amazon.in marketplace. We have shared, and will continue to share information that law enforcement needs in their investigation of this case. Amazon has zero tolerance for misconduct and takes strict action against individuals or third parties for violation of our policies or applicable laws. Amazon.in is a third-party marketplace (intermediary) where sellers offer their products to customers directly. Contractually, sellers operating on the Amazon.in marketplace, as well as delivery partners, service providers and their associates, are required to comply with all applicable laws.”
