Rats 'Ate' 500 Kg Of Weed, Say UP Cops As Court Asks For Seized Drug: Report

The additional district judge first ordered Mathura SSP Abhishek Yadav to get rid of the “mice menace” and then produce proof that the rodents actually consumed 581 kgs of marijuana worth Rs 60 lakh.

New Delhi: In a report submitted by Mathura Police to a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (1985) court, the cops made a bizarre claim that rats “ate” over 500 kilograms of marijuana, seized and stored in the warehouses of Shergarh and Highway Police stations, the Times of India reported. The response by Mathura Police came when the court had asked earlier this year to produce the marijuana recovered under the NDPS Act. 

Responding to the claim, the additional district judge first ordered Mathura Senior Superintendent of Police Abhishek Yadav to get rid of the “mice menace” and then produce proof that the rodents actually consumed 581 kilograms of marijuana, worth Rupees 60 lakh, the report added. 

The court has also issued five-point directions for the auction/disposal of weed stored in police warehouses. "Time-bound action will be taken in compliance with the court orders," said acting senior superintendent of police (SSP), Mathura, Martand P Singh, stated the TOI report. 

"The SHOs of Shergarh and Highway police stations have claimed that 581 kg of weed stored in warehouses was destroyed by the rats. The cops have been finding it impossible to protect substances kept in the said storage areas. The court has ordered the police to produce evidence regarding the claim and set November 26 as the next hearing date,” said the special public prosecutor Ranveer Singh. 

In its order dated November 18, the court referred to a case under Highway police station in which 195 kgs of recovered weed was destroyed by rats, as informed by government counsel to the court. In its clarification, the Mathura police said, “Being small in size, rats have no fear of the police. SHOs cannot be experts in solving every problem.”

In May 2020, three men smuggling weed in a truck were arrested in Mathura. The truck was intercepted near Jatwari village in the Shergarh area and 386 kg of weed hidden in millet bags was recovered from the vehicle. The three accused were booked under the NDPS Act and sent to judicial custody.