Senior executives of US retail giant Amazon in India have been charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in a case of alleged sale of marijuana via the online retail platform, according to a Madhya Pradesh police statement.

The state police arrested two men with 20 kg of marijuana on November 14 and found they were using the Amazon India website to order and further smuggle the substance in the guise of stevia leaves, a natural sweetener.

The police said in a statement, issued late on Saturday, that the executive directors of Amazon India were being named as accused in the case due to differences in answers in documents provided by the company in response to police questions and facts unearthed by discussion.

The police, who had earlier questioned Amazon executives in the case, estimate that about 1,000 kg of marijuana, worth Rs 1.1 crore was sold through the Amazon website.

The Superintendent of Police in Bhind, Manoj Singh, speaking to the media confirmed that Amazon executive directors  have been booked in the marijuana smuggling case.

The police investigation revealed that Suraj Paviaya and Mukul Jaiswal, both natives of Bhind town in Madhya Pradesh, had created a firm Babu Tex and registered it with Amazon as a vendor. They used the online retail platform to supply cannabis sourced from Visakhaptnam to their customers.

Amazon said in a statement that it does not allow the listing and sale of legally prohibited products, adding that it takes strict action against sellers in case of any contravention.

"The issue was notified to us and we are currently investigating it," Amazon said of the alleged marijuana smuggling.

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