Online drug trade more serious than cybercrime, will not be tolerated in state, says Narottam Mishra

Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra on Sunday said that a case has been registered under Section 38 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) in Bhind against the executive directors of e-commerce giant Amazon in the online drug trade case.According to reports, a case was registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Gohad police station in Bhind on 13 November after 21.7 kilograms of ganja was seized from two Gwalior residents.According to an India Today report, Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar, said that the investigation of the two accused, named Bijendra Tomar and Suraj alias Kallu Pawaiya, led to the arrest of Mukul Jaiswal, another Gwalior resident, and purchaser Chitra Balmiki, a resident of Mehgaon in Bhind.The SP said that Pawaiya and Jaiswal had formed a company named 'Babu Tex' and got it registered on Amazon as a seller. The duo supplied ganja from Visakhapatnam through the company under the guise of selling stevia, a plant-based sweetener, he said. It is being estimated that whopping one-tonne marijuana, worth over Rs 1 crore, has been transported this way under the guise of ‘stevia leaf’ shipments.According to PTI, Amazon had said in a statement earlier that it does not allow the sale of illegal products through its platform, and it was cooperating with the probe in the matter.However, Mishra has claimed otherwise. He said, "There are no guidelines for online businesses but Madhya Pradesh will make one. Amazon was called but they are not cooperating. I appeal to Amazon's MD-CEO to cooperate. Else, we will initiate action."The Madhya Pradesh minister said, “Online drug trade is a more serious crime than cybercrime and such crime will not be encouraged in the state.”According to a Times of India report, Bhind police Manoj Singh, too, said Amazon was not cooperating with the probe at all. “The company is earning hugely from this country and they have a social responsibility towards citizens. We had sent our team to their offices but nothing much happened. They are shifting the onus. We have emailed notices to the authorities concerned,” he said.Following the home minister’s statements, Madhya Pradesh police issued a 20-point notice to Amazon as part of their investigation.