Rats Feast On 'Doda Powder' Stored In Open At Police Station In Jharkhand
The contraband was seized in 2019 and was kept at Namkum police station. Lack of evidence and sloppy prosecution took its toll on the case.
Published : January 3, 2026 at 3:11 PM IST
Ranchi: Bizarre as it may sound, rats allegedly feasted on around 675 kg of doda (poppy husk/straw), a form of the opium poppy used as a narcotic also called 'Afeem' (opium), at a police station in Jharkhand.
The incident occurred in Namkum area of Jharkhand's capital Ranchi where police negligence in storing evidence and scores of loopholes in prosecution's version of the case led to the acquittal of two persons arrested with the doda power. As per reports, the doda powder was stored in the open at the local police station. The case dates back to May 31, 2019 when Namkum police, based on a tip-off, arrested Kartik Mahato and Churu Lohara near Kolad village and recovered 45 bags of doda powder from them.
The police also claimed to have seized a Bolero pick-up truck and two motorcycles during the raid at the village. A case (no 161/2019) was registered under sections 15C and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 following which a chargesheet against the accused was filed by investigating officer Anil Kumar Singh.
During trial, the prosecution presented seven police witnesses, including informer Praveen Kumar and Singh at the court. However, significant contradictions were found in the testimonies of the witnesses leading the court to dismiss the police's version of events as false.
The court observed that the sacks seized from the accused were neither sealed nor marked and also that there were contradictions in the statements of witnesses. As per reports, the witnesses differed on the weight of the sacks seized from the accused. The court further observed that while the seizure list was prepared at 4 am, the arrest memo was issued at 8:30 am on May 31, 2019.
As the case started falling like a pack of cards, it came to fore that rats had polished off the seized doda powder. It also came to fore that the plastic box containing the samples of the powder was also gnawed by the rats. The court, while stating that there were independent witnesses in the case, acquitted the accused.
It is not the first time that crucial evidence pertaining to a narcotics case has been destroyed due to police's negligence. A few days back, it was discovered that rats feasted on 200 kg of marijuana (ganja) kept inside a police station. Rats have also earlier been blamed for polishing off seized liquor in dry Bihar and currency notes in Assam.
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