Special Cell rapped for 'casual' approach in drug haul cases

Delhi Police's elite anti-terror wing, Special Cell, has drawn flak for adopting a "casual approach" in narcotics related cases from a court here which acquitted a 22-year-old woman arrested for allegedly possessing 1.8 kg of heroin.
The court acquitted Lal Muan Pui Hnamte, hailing from Northeast, while noting that there were discrepancies in investigation and the probe agency did not take any public witness while conducting raids.
"This court is constrained to observe that it has become a regular practice for police officials of the Special Cell to depose in court casually that though they had made efforts to join passersby in the raiding team, none of the passersby agreed to join the proceedings and left the spot without disclosing their name and addresses," Special Judge Anu Grover Baliga said.

The court observed that no satisfactory explanation was given by the police as to why it only asked passersby to join the proceedings and did not make any effort to include public witnesses at the spot of apprehending an accused.
It has been repeatedly held by the higher courts that in such cases as the present one, investigating agency must show that sincere efforts were made to join independent witnesses and that the investigating agency cannot merely take a stand that public witnesses refused to join investigation, it said.
"This court finds the deposition of the investigating official that he had made genuine efforts to join public witnesses in the proceedings as not worthy of credence," the judge said.

According to the charge sheet, on June 2, 2009, acting on a tip-off, Hnamte was apprehended by the police when she was allegedly collecting the contraband from a Lajpat Nagar resident Mohd. Asmile at a park near ISKCON temple here.