Gangtok: Sikkim Police was left red-faced over a data gaffe when the heroin seizure data showed an unprecedented increase between 2018-20.
The state government annually sends data on drug seizure to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The data of Sikkim between 2018-2020 showed a surge of 15,000 kilograms of heroin seized in 2018, even as nothing was seized in 2017.
The following year, the data again showed zero amount seized, followed by a whopping 50,000 kilograms of heroin seized in 2020, which clearly indicated a data entry blunder.
Due to the data entry fallout, the seizure numbers were reportedly miscalculated. In 2018, a seizure of 15,000 milligrams of heroin should have been entered as 0.015 kg, whereas in 2020, the 50,000 milligrams that were seized should have been recorded as 0.05 kilograms.
Instead, the Ministry of Home Affairs told the Parliament that Sikkim seized over 65,000 kilograms in these two years alone.
Sikkim Police spokesperson DIG range Tashi Wangyal Bhutia said, “We accept the blunder and an inquiry has been set up. We are trying to find out if it was a data entry error made by the Sikkim Police or the NCRB.”
Bhutia assured that once the inquiry is over, departmental action will be taken against the offender.
As per a report published on The Wire, the issue was first taken up by Aravindakshan, editor-in-chief of Sathiyam TV, who sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from the various paramilitary and police forces, investigating agencies, and the Sikkim government. After patching the information together, it was found that the numbers did not add up.
“We asked the Sikkim police through an RTI application about who seized the heroin in 2018 and 2020. The answer revealed that so much heroin was not seized in Sikkim,” Aravindakshan told The Wire.
This shows that even a blunder of the smallest points, decimal points in this case, can create confusion and embarrassment to the state. And the problem may not be limited to Sikkim. In Manipur, heroin seizures have gone from around 17 kg in 2018 to over 260 kg in 2019 and more than 3,200 kg in 2020. The MHA, however, says a clarification has been sought only from Sikkim and not from Manipur.
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