Two persons get 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment in 2021 ganja seizure case

CUTTACK: The court of additional district and sessions judge, Cuttack, on Tuesday sentenced two persons to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each after convicting both under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The excise department sleuths had seized 125 kg of ganja after intercepting a vehicle near Trishulia on April 6, 2021. Rajkumar Pandit (34) and Chandan Kumar (24) — both from Bihar — who were travelling in the vehicle were arrested and charged under the NDPS Act.
After convicting the duo, judge Gyanendra Kumar Barik said that the mitigating circumstance against the accused are that they are poor men having their family members depending on them. “Therefore, taking into account the age of the convicts, the circumstances of the case, the quantity of the contraband articles recovered and seized from their possession and keeping in view the provisions of section 32B of the NDPS Act, it appears to my considered view that imposition of minimum sentence prescribed for the offence would meet the ends of justice in the instant case,” the judge observed.