2 get 10-year jail in NDPS case

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 1

Holding them guilty for an offence under Sections 15(c), 18(b) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the Court of Additional District and Session Judge Dr Ajit Attri sentenced two persons to 10-year imprisonment.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs1 lakh each on the convicts, Lakhwinder Singh and Manpreet Singh, both residents of Punjab.

While announcing the verdict, the court noted that there is no denying the fact that the instances under the NDPS Act are on the alarming rise and drugs have directly affected the youth and the entire social fabric of society.

As per the prosecution, the convicts were arrested by officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) with 3.220 kg of opium and 629.9 kg of poppy husk in 2016 from near a furniture market in Sector 41, Chandigarh.

The NCB officials got a tip-off that the duo was coming with the contraband in a truck from Madhya Pradesh. When the NCB team stopped the truck, being driven by Lakhwinder Singh, Manpreet Singh was found sitting in the cabin.

During checking, it was found that the truck was loaded with around 28 tonnes of masur dal. The contraband was found in white polythene packets, which were kept in the middle of the bags of pulses loaded in the truck. Around 21 bags of poppy husk were recovered from the truck.

The accused were booked under various sections of the NDPS Act. During trials, the defence counsel argued that they were falsely implicated in the case. However, based on the evidence, the court held them guilty and sentenced them to 10-year imprisonment.