The matter came to light after Bhind police, acting on a tip off, raided a dhaba on the Bhind-Gwalior Highway on November 13 and seized 20 kg of marijuana and recovered plastic bags used as packaging paper for Amazon products.
The Madhya Pradesh Police is probing the alleged role of e-commerce giant Amazon in the sale of marijuana after two people arrested from Bhind district were learnt to be using the online platform to transport the narcotic to different districts in the state.
The matter came to light after Bhind police, acting on a tip off, raided Govind dhaba on the Bhind-Gwalior Highway on November 13 and seized 20 kg of marijuana and recovered plastic bags used as packaging paper for Amazon products. The arrested have been identified as Suraj Pawaiya alias Kallu, and Brijendra Singh Tomar alias Pintu, the owner of the dhaba.
Bhind SP Manoj Singh told The Indian Express that Pawaiya, a repeated offender, had been under surveillance and acting on a specific input, the dhaba was raided and the two arrested. During investigation, police learnt that Pawiaya had registered a company Babu Tex based in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Babu Tex had been touted as a company dealing in furniture and allowed Pawaiya to generate a seller ID on Amazon, using which he supplied marijuana to people across the state, police said.
Singh said, “Pawaiya would first place an order from Gwalior for stevia leaves from his company Babu Tex which would pack marijuana instead. This would be then picked up by Amazon’s delivery services, stored in their warehouse, transported to Gwalior and delivered to Pawaiya.”
Police said they have established that Pawaiya conducted business worth Rs 1.1 crore using Amazon, in which around 1,000 kg of marijuana was sold. The SP said it is unclear how Pawaiya managed to supply marijuana without checks.
Singh said, “We approached Amazon. They have said their lawyers will deal with the issue.”
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