Seven years ago, The Indian Express’s investigation into the Punjab drug arrests had revealed a startling pattern: almost half of the FIRs filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for alleged possession were copycat FIRs — each echoing the other word by word.
Not much has changed.
The Indian Express scrutinised 11,156 FIRs registered under the NDPS Act between April 1, 2022 and February 28, 2023 — the period for which the state police presented a summary of their anti-drug efforts to the Assembly — and found the same pattern.
A script that’s all too familiar: a routine patrol of policemen, on the lookout for “bhaide purush” (“bad men”), run into suspicious individuals holding polythene bags they quickly try to dispose of before being apprehended.
Be it the “momi lifafa” (polythene) almost always found in the right hand of the suspect, the refusal of passers-by to become witness to the seizure while citing their “majboori” (compulsion), or the faith reposed by the accused in allowing the policemen to frisk them without the presence of a gazetted officer or duty magistrate as mandated by law: over half of the FIRs show a procedure that’s more cut-and-paste than due process.
This absence of independent witnesses and the surprising eagerness of the suspects to submit themselves to searches by the police put question marks on the process itself. Records show that these “voluntary” searches often transpire after the accused is presented with the option to undergo a search in the presence of a Duty Magistrate or a gazetted officer, as per Section 50 the NDPS Act 1985.
The script is identical even in cases where individuals are apprehended while consuming drugs. Accused individuals are typically discovered “sniffing/ smoking heroin” behind bushes or near walls, in vehicles, often with silver foil, Rs 10 notes used for inhaling the substance, and half-burnt matchsticks or lighters.
Consider these illustrative 10 examples from 10 districts in the state:
○ FIR No. 87, District Police Commissionerate Amritsar, Cantt police station (04/04/2022)
A police party was on patrolling duty in search of “bad men” when they spotted a Swift Dzire car coming from the opposite direction. On seeing the cops, the young driver stopped his car, took out a polythene bag from his trouser’s right pocket and tried to throw it away. He was nabbed. Cops asked bystanders to become a witness, but nobody agreed.
○ FIR No. 127, Ludhiana, Tibba police station (21/06/2022)
A police party was patrolling in a private vehicle in search of “bhaide purush”. On seeing them, a man sitting in a park tried to throw away a polythene bag he was holding. He was nabbed after which he was told that his search could be conducted in the presence of a magistrate or a gazetted officer, but he volunteered to let the cops frisk him. Police found 5 gm of heroin in the polythene bag.
○ FIR No. 19, Mansa, Bhikhi police station (02/02/2023)
A police party was patrolling in search of “suspicious (shukki) men” at night. In search lights, a woman was spotted walking towards police with a polythene bag in her right hand. On seeing the police, she turned around. She was nabbed. Efforts to get a witness from the public were unsuccessful…she volunteered to let the police search her. Seven grams of heroin was found in the polythene bag.
○ FIR No. 155, Ferozepur, Lakho Ke Behram police station (27/12/2022)
A police party was patrolling in a private vehicle with a laptop and printer in search of “bad men”. On seeing the police, a man on foot turned around, took out a polythene bag from the right pocket of his trouser and tried to throw it away. He was nabbed and asked to identify himself. He volunteered to get himself searched by the police party. Efforts were made to get a witness from the public, but nobody agreed. 22 grams of heroin was found in the polythene bag.
○ FIR No. 0463, Kapurthala, Kotwali police station (26/12/2022)
The FIR states that the police party were patrolling for “bhaide purush” when they saw a woman wrapped up in a shawl near Bheela Mor. Upon seeing the police, she tried to slip away but the police party overpowered her and found a “wajandar kala momi lifafa” (a heavy black plastic bag) in the grass nearby. They tried to get passersby as witnesses but people cited their “majboori” and left. So they opened the bag and found 600 tablets of Etizolam. The woman could not produce any bills and was booked under NDPS Act.
○ FIR No. 0097, Muktsar Sahib police station (29/06/2022)
The police party were patrolling for suspicious men when on their way from Kabarwala village to Sarawa Bodla, they came across two women on Bodla bridge taking out something from transparent lifafas in their right hands. On seeing the lights of the police Scorpio, they threw the polythenes and tried to slink away to the right but were overpowered. The police then saw the “nasheeli goliyan” through the transparent packets lying on the ground. No private person agreed to become a witness. The women were told that they had the right to get the polythene checked in the presence of a gazetted officer or a duty magistrate but they told the cops that they had full “yakeen” (faith) in them. On checking, the police party found 22 packs of Tramadol tablets.
○ FIR No. 0152, Gurdaspur police station (04/12/2022)
A police party was on a patrol looking out for “bhaide aadmi” when they saw a woman with a black polythene in her right hand. On seeing the police party, she tried to turn back and threw the bag to the side. The police overpowered her and then informed their local ASI. He arrived on the spot and told the woman that she had the right to get the polythene frisked in the presence of a gazetted officer or duty magistrate but she expressed “vishwas” (faith) in the cops, who then counted 1,010 white tablets with no marking. No civilians agreed to be witnesses.
○ FIR No. 0084, Chabbewal, Hoshiarpur police station (23/07/2022)
A police party had set up a naka in Mugopatti when they saw a speeding Alto. They signalled it to stop via torchlight. The car stopped and the two occupants, one male and the other female, tried to flee. They were overpowered and policemen told them they had the right to be frisked in the presence of a gazetted officer or duty magistrate. No passerby agreed to become a witness. So the cops searched the car and found 45 gm heroin and Rs 11,550 as drug money.
○ FIR No. 131, Jalandhar Rural, Phillaur police station (30/05/2022)
A police party was patrolling, with a laptop and printer, in a private vehicle in search of “bad men”. A woman was seen walking and holding a polythene bag in her left hand. On seeing the police, she turned around and threw the polythene bag. She was nabbed and asked to identify herself. She was told that she could get herself searched in presence of a magistrate or a gazetted officer. But she volunteered to get herself frisked by the police party. Efforts were made to get a witness from the public, but nobody agreed. 5 grams of heroin was recovered from the polythene bag.
○ FIR No. 108, Tarn Taran, Bhikhiwind police station (02/10/2022)
A police party was patrolling in search of “bad men”. On seeing the police, a man on foot took out a polythene bag from the right pocket of his trouser and tried to throw it away. He was nabbed and asked to identify himself. Though told that he could get himself searched in presence of a magistrate or a gazetted officer, he volunteered to get himself searched by the police party. Efforts were made to get a witness from the public, but nobody agreed. 7 grams of heroin was found from the polythene bag.
Red flags
Legal experts representing the accused in these NDPS cases have often raised concerns about these repetitive procedures, labelling them as “major discrepancies” in police operations. Advocate Vivek Thakur, who takes up NDPS cases at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, says, “The use of this mechanical script while registering such FIRs coupled with disregard of the mandatory provisions of the NDPS Act is one reason why many of these cases fall flat.”
Making a similar observation in an NDPS case in 2021, Justice Arvind Kumar Sangwan of the High Court remarked, “It is noticed in many cases that investigating officers, while conducting the investigation under the NDPS Act, are not adhering to the mandatory provisions of this Act.’’ Lawyers say the accused capitalise on these inconsistencies to plead that they were framed and secure an acquittal.
However, in a statement to the HC recently, Punjab police chief DGP Gaurav Yadav said the conviction rate in the state is 80 per cent. But as per data shared by the Punjab police in the High Court on November 2, there are 16,149 cases under the NDPS Act in which charges have been framed by the trial courts before October 7, 2021, but are still under trial as on October 23, 2023.
Retired Punjab DGP Shashikant attributed the cut-and-paste language in these FIRs to poorly trained junior police officials. “All police organisations require continual education at the cutting edge of the force but in its absence, junior ASI-level or sub inspector-level cops who write these reports continue to rely on old tropes of ‘momi lifafa’ et al.”
