Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 25 September 2023
In a significant development, the Rangat Police have seized a sizeable quantity of illicit ganja concealed within a parcel received through the postal system. The operation, which unfolded over several weeks, uncovered a clandestine drug shipment that had eluded detection.
The investigation began on September 3, 2023, when the Postmaster at Rangat Post Office received a suspicious package. The parcel, wrapped in brown tape, bore a sender’s address indicating it was dispatched from Ratan Das of Aurodinda Road, Vill+PO-Naihati, District-North 24 Pgs, PIN-743165, with a contact number of 9674125862. The recipient’s address was listed as Ram Prasad Das of Vill+PO Rangat, N/M Andaman, PIN-744205, with a contact number of 9571553703.
Despite their best efforts, the post office’s field staff could not locate the intended recipient or establish contact using the provided phone number. This raised suspicions that the parcel might contain incriminating articles, prompting the Post Master at Rangat Post Office to report the matter to the Station House Officer (SHO) at PS Rangat. Secret informers were deployed in the vicinity of the post office for surveillance.
According to the Indian Postal Service regulations, parcels unclaimed by recipients for seven days must be returned to the sender’s address. To prevent this, a letter was sent from the SHO of PS Rangat to the Post Master, requesting the retention of the parcel until the recipient came forward to claim it or until clearance from the police.
However, as of September 22, 2023, nearly 21 days had passed since the parcel’s arrival at the post office, and no one had come forward to claim it. The retention period specified by postal norms had expired, leading to the intervention of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) at Rangat.
Following the SDPO’s directive, the police took possession of the parcel in the presence of two prominent witnesses from the region. Subsequently, the suspicious package was opened at the Rangat Post Office, with witnesses present, to eliminate any doubts about its contents. Inside, authorities discovered approximately 3.738 kilograms of ganja, a banned substance.
The seized ganja was documented under a seizure memo, and a case was registered against both the sender and recipient under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
This seizure serves as a notable achievement in the ongoing efforts to combat illegal drug trafficking in the region. The authorities remain committed to maintaining strict vigilance and taking stringent action against those involved in such unlawful activities.