Varanasi Police Destroy 558 kg Opium Seized in 2012 Jaitpura Case

Varanasi Commissionerate police on Thursday destroyed 558 kg of opium worth an estimated ₹10.80 crore, seized 14 years ago in a Jaitpura police station case, at the Government Opium and Alkaloid Works in Ghazipur.

Police said it was the largest disposal of seized narcotics in the state so far under Operation Dahan, the statewide drive to destroy drugs held in police custody.

The opium had been recovered in 2012 in case crime number 54/2012, registered at Jaitpura police station under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Since then it had been kept in safe custody, as the rules require, until proceedings in the case were complete.

A police team led by ACP Chetganj Shubham Jain and Jaitpura station in-charge Upendra Pratap Singh took the consignment to the Ghazipur factory on Thursday. There, all the packets were weighed. The total came to 558 kg.

The seized opium was deposited at the factory following the prescribed procedure and then disposed of in the presence and under the supervision of officials, with the drug disposal committee overseeing the process. Police officers watched the whole procedure to make sure the rules were followed, according to the police.

"Operation Dahan is being run against narcotics on the instructions of the state government," ACP Shubham Jain said. The opium seized in the old Jaitpura case was disposed of under the same campaign, he said.

The Ghazipur factory is where opium seized across the country is sent for final disposal. Under the NDPS rules, drug disposal committees in each district decide which seized consignments can be destroyed once their evidentiary purpose is served and the courts permit it.

Section 52A of the NDPS Act allows seized drugs to be disposed of before or after a trial once an inventory has been prepared and certified before a magistrate, with samples kept for the court. The idea is that narcotics should not have to sit in police strongrooms for years, which is exactly what happened with the Jaitpura consignment.

The Jaitpura stock had been held in custody for 14 years before Thursday's disposal. Its estimated value, ₹10.80 crore, is based on the police's valuation of the 558 kg that was weighed at the factory.

Once the process at Ghazipur was complete, the Jaitpura police team returned to Varanasi.

Operation Dahan is being carried out across Uttar Pradesh. For the Commissionerate, Thursday's disposal means one of the older and heavier consignments in its custody has now been formally cleared. Police have not said which cases will be taken up next under the drive.