Almost a month after Mephedrone (M-cat) was included as a psychotropic substance under the National Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, the Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai crime branch is yet to receive the kits to test the drug.
Almost a month after Mephedrone (M-cat) was included as a psychotropic substance under the National Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, the Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai crime branch is yet to receive the kits to test the drug.
While there have been a massive crackdown on the drug since last month, lack of M-Cat kits can translate into many innocents landing up in jail.
Namdeo Chavan, DCP of ANC said: "We have written to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for kits. We are hoping to receive it in a few weeks. We require one for each of the five units."
The kit includes bottles of reagents, test tubes, cavity slides and colour charts. Suhas Gokhale, senior PI of Azad Maidan's ANC unit, said:
"We do not know much about the chemical reagents required to test the drug. We could have tried to procure the chemicals ourselves and done the tests, if we knew which chemicals are required. Based on the colour chart, we can assess the colour variations and confirm the drug."
Although the cops test the seized samples in their labs, drugs which test positive have to be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Kalina as a mandatory procedure for final testing and reports. The results could take almost a month.
"The whole point of preliminary drug testing is to screen innocent people. Sometimes, when we conduct surprise raids, we seize suspected narcotics. At times, it turns out to be some harmless substance or chemical during the preliminary testing in our lab. In such cases, we can end the probe right there and there's no need to send the sample to FSL. This is why we require Mephedrone testing kits," added Gokhale.
"Since we receive reports from FSL only after a month, we don't have the backing of those reports when the accused are initially produced before the court. We now register M-cat related cases and produce the accused before the court based on the information provided by our sources, our own knowledge about the drug and the statements of the accused. Once we receive the kit, we can produce preliminary reports from our labs and use it in court in the beginning itself," said a senior officer from ANC.
NCB officials have sought M-Cat testing kits from Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd (HAL), Pune. This will be distributed to all drug-enforcement agencies, including NCB.
NCB zonal director Sanjay Jha said: "We have written to HAL. We have received kits for other drugs. Mephedrone testing kit will arrive within a few weeks, after which it will be distributed across agencies."
Changing Acts
Under NDPS Act, 1985
2 gms to 50 gm of mephedrone is non-commercial quantity. Penalty for possession is imprisonment of two years, extending up to 10, and a fine of up to Rs1 lakh. Minimum 50 gms is commercial quantity Penalty is imprisonment between 10 to 20 years and a fine of up to Rs2 lakh. Offenders will be booked for sale, transport, import and possession based on the quantity. It is a non-bailable offence.
Prior to NDPS Act Offenders were booked under IPC Section 328 (arrest of a person for causing hurt by means of poison with intent to committing an offence) It was a bailable offence.
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