Cops' plea to re-test seized dope pending

Mumbai: Even after more than a year-and-half in one of its biggest drugs seizure, the Mumbai police is still struggling to prove whether the material seized from Mumbai police constable Dharamraj Kalokhe was the banned substance ‘mephedrone’.

The police’s application to re-test the seized substance to prove it was narcotics drugs, is still pending in the high court. This has kept the police from filing chargesheet in the matter and has caused the trial against Kalokhe and lady drug mafia Shashikala alias Baby Patankar and others to remain on hold.

The case came to light when head constable Kalokhe, posted at Marine Drive police station, was arrested on March 9, 2015 after 110 kg of mephedrone drug, valued at crores of rupees, was seized  from his residence in a village under Khandala taluka, in Satara district. The next day, 12 kg of mephedrone was seized from Kalokhe’s locked cupboard at the Marine Drive police station here, along with Rs 30,000 cash. An FIR was registered against Kalokhe at the police station under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He was suspended from service but later the report from Kalina forensic science laboratory said that the seized substance was not drugs and hence all the accused were granted bail.

Following the negative FSL report, the police on May 29, 2015 filed an application in the Bombay high court seeking permission to resend the contraband to the central forensic laboratory. In its application, which is now pending before the HC, the police said that the FSL at Kalina does not have necessary mechanism for characterisation and identification of the seized contraband.