34 kg Ketamine seized by DRI in 2011 stolen from Sewree godown

A huge quantity of Ketamine (a party drug), seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in 2011, has been stolen from a government godown at Sewree.

Of the 200 kg Ketamine worth Rs 70 lakh seized by the DRI during a raid in Andheri, 34 kg has been reported stolen from the godown. The Sewree police have registered a case of theft and are probing. The incident has raised the issue of security of goods seized by government agencies during raids and kept in safe custody.

According to police sources, a complaint has been registered by senior customs officer Purshottam Nimje, who is also in-charge of the godown at Reay Road in Sewree.

Police sources said that goods seized and confiscated by central enforcement agencies such as Customs and DRI are kept in godowns after court permission. In the godown, DRI had kept 20 sealed packets of Ketamine.

"On June 17, a DRI official and an additional magistrate had visited the godown to take back the seized contraband. They found that while 13 packets were intact, the weight of Ketamine in the remaining seven packets were found to be less. The packets were torn and 34.14 kg of Ketamine worth Rs 12 lakh were siphoned off," said an officer from the Sewree police station.

Based on the complaint given by Nimje, the Sewree police last week registered a case of theft under Section 380 of the Indian Penal Code.