NCB team attacked during Howrah raid: HC rejects ‘misidentification’ plea of ‘drug dealer’

Kolkata: Primarily relying on evidence relating to call data record and mobile tower location, Calcutta High Court ruled out an alleged “misidentification” allegation and refused to quash a narcotic case where a team of Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) officers were allegedly attacked during a raid inside a house in Howrah.

The bench of Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul) was moved by a couple praying for quashing of the NDPS case against them. They alleged they were falsely implicated only on the basis of the statement of co-accused and that there is a case of misidentification. The petitioners’ counsel submitted that the wife Anusara Begum @ Baby was wrongly implicated since the prosecution agency confused her for another woman, Baby Begum, who is the daughter-in-law of the co-accused. The residential addresses of these two women are different and the attack on the NCB team took place in the area where the other woman resides. In the case, the co-accused was arrested by NCB with a substantial amount of marijuana. He confessed he was to deliver it to the petitioner couple who were husband and wife. The NCB team were allegedly attacked and physically assaulted when they went to raid the house of the couple. The court observed that Anusara Begum is the woman who is accused in the present case and Sheikh Shajahan is her husband.

The NCB submitted that call records indicated that her three mobile numbers were in contact with the co-accused while the tower location exactly matched her house location. She allegedly arranged the drug deal.

Accordingly, the co-accused was to collect the marijuana from Odisha and deliver it to her house. Observing that materials on record are prima facie sufficient to sustain the charge against the petitioner, the court refused to quash the proceedings and directed trial court to proceed expeditiously with the trial.