Rats ate 200kg of Ganja worth over ₹1 crore, claims Jharkhand police

In a weird twist of events in Jharkhand, a narcotics contraband seized by police was allegedly eaten by rats in the storage facility, claimed Jharkhand police.

Ranchi court had acquitted the prime accused in this major narcotics case after the police submitted that nearly 200 kilograms of the ganja that was seized, valued approximately ₹1 crore, was eaten by rats, as per reports.

The sole accused was acquitted by the special NDPS court in Ranchi, which  reportedly flagged lapses in the investigation, even including the investigation officer’s claims of the seizure material being eaten by the rats.

Originating in January 2022, Ormanji police acted on a tip-off, intercepting a white bolero vehicle on the National Highway 20. It was alleged that the car was transporting a large narcotics shipment from Ranchi to Ramgarh. 

During the stop, three accused tried to flee the scene. Of them, one Indrajeet Rai alias Anarjeet Rai was caught while Vikas Chaurasia and Kundan Rai escaped the scene.

The police then searched the vehicle and found 200 kg of ganja, packed in around 170 packets, concealed in specially created compartments.

Authorities reportedly seized approximately 200 kg of ganja, resulting in Rai's arrest and the filing of a chargesheet under the strict Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

This incident has sparked major concerns about law enforcement's handling of high-value contraband, valued at roughly ₹50,000 per kg by Railway Protection Force standards putting the lost 200 kg at ₹1 crore. Rodents have been blamed before in Jharkhand; earlier this year, when Dhanbad officials claimed rats emptied or half-emptied expensive liquor bottles in government warehouses.