At a time when the anti-narcotics cell (ANC) should be working overnight to check drug trafficking in the city, especially in the wake of the New Year celebrations, officers of the unit have been posted on duty for anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare’s rally instead.
A senior ANC officer told The Asian Age that only ANC constables are on the field, looking for information on drug peddlers and rave parties, with no one to supervise them.
The assistant commissioner of police of the ANC, three police inspectors and three sub-inspectors were posted on bandobast duty at the MMRDA ground. “We have been posted on this duty for all the three days. Only a couple of officers along with the constables from our unit are doing our core task of looking out for drug peddlers and collecting intelligence on rave parties that might have been organised in the city or in the outskirts for the New Years’ eve,” said a senior officer of ANC.
According to the officer, December is the month when officers of the ANC are flooded with calls from informers and other sources, who give them information about contraband trade in the city. “Our constables are currently struggling to get tip-offs from the sources as our experienced officers are posted on bandobast duty,” he said.
The source further said that even if they get particular information from their sources about narcotics exchanging hands, they cannot work on it as the defence lawyers would benefit during trial. “A defence lawyer can raise objections as to how an officer, who was posted on bandobast duty, could prosecute his client in a narcotics case,” he said.