Father-son duo gets 10-yr jail for processing opium in Chatra

Chatra: Two years after a man was arrested for cultivating poppy and processing opium, the court of district and sessions judge Rakesh Kumar Singh on Thursday sentenced the 58-year-old man and his 19-year-old son to 10-year jail for the crime.
Mahadev was arrested from his home at Hahe village in Lawalong block of the district on May 6, 2020 in a raid. The police seized 8 kg of opium from Mahadev’s house. His son Jado managed to flee but later surrendered in a lower court days later.
An FIR was lodged with the Lawalong police station under sections of the NDPS Act. Mahadev and Jado both admitted to cultivating opium in Gair Majurwa land in the village during their interrogation.
“The court awarded 10 years of jail term to Mahadev and Jado and imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh failing which they would have to spend another year in the jail,” their lawyers Nirmal Kumar Dangi and Ashok Sahu told TOI.
In another incident, a court in Khunti district has sentenced a man, identified as Hassa Purti, to 12 years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh for illegal trade in poppy bulbs used to make opium. Purti was caught with over 500 kg of poppy bulbs from a place under the Arki police station area in August 2020.