The Tulasipur APO chief inspector Devi Prasad Poudel has also been dragged into controversy. [break]
The Tulsipur APO had seized brown sugar from an ambulance (Ra 1 Cha 290) operated by Nepal-India Friendship Association on January 2. Inspector Poudel had informed journalists that 200 grams of brown sugar was seized from the ambulance. However, surprisingly, police have mentioned in the charge-sheet that only 13.89 milligrams of brown sugar was seized.
The DPO Dang has formed a five-member probe team led by inspector Prakash Malla to look into the matter after news reports quoting inspector Poudel and the charge-sheet prepared for submission in the court contradicted each other. The charge-sheet prepared by Assistant Sub Inspector Chandra Singh Ojha also contained some other errors.
Police had arrested Sunil Puri and Chhabi KC along with the ambulance driver when the seizure of contraband was made. This was announced by police themselves in front of journalists. The arrested three are still in police custody. Police are yet to make them public.
However, police have claimed in the charge-sheet that none of the three was arrested and are still absconding. Also, police had said Rajan Puri was arrested with the drug. But, his name has been changed into Sunil Puri in the charge-sheet.
Inspector Poudel has defended himself by arguing that the amount of drug that he told journalists was not accurate. "I told journalists that 200 grams of brown sugar was seized. It was simply a guess. When we weighed the drug later, it was just 13.89 milligrams," says Poudel.
District Police Office Chief SP Ganesh Bahadur Air refused to comment on the issue. He said, "We can not say anything at the moment as the investigation is on. We will make it public when the probe is over."
As per Narcotic Drug (control) Act-1976, those arrested with more than 100 grams of contraband drug can face life sentence and between Rs 0.5 to Rs 2.5 million in fine. But, those arrested with less than 25 grams of contraband drug are sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail.
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