NCB secures 10-year jail term for three drug traffickers caught with charas in car

New Delhi, Oct 26 (IANS) The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Chandigarh Zonal Unit, has secured the conviction of three drug traffickers who were caught transporting 3.65 kg of charas concealed inside a car’s speaker system.

A Special Court in Rupnagar, Punjab, sentenced each of the three accused to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a total fine of Rs 2 lakh on each convict.

The convicted persons have been identified as Kuldeep Singh, alias Golu, and Sanjeev Kumar, alias Mithoo, both residents of Nabha in Patiala district, and Ashok Kumar, a resident of Patiala/Chandigarh. The case was registered as NCB Crime No. 46/2021.

According to the NCB, acting on specific intelligence, a team from the Chandigarh Zonal Unit conducted surveillance on the Sirhind-Patiala Road in Morinda, Rupnagar district, on July 1, 2021.

A car matching the description provided in the intelligence input was intercepted. During the search, officials discovered seven packets of round and finger-shaped charas concealed inside a speaker fitted in the vehicle’s boot.

The seized contraband weighed 3.65 kg, which constitutes a commercial quantity under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. All three occupants of the vehicle were arrested at the spot.

The Special Court, presided over by Judge Lukhvinder Kaur Duggal, held that the mandatory provisions of the NDPS Act had been duly complied with. In its judgment dated October 21, the court convicted the three accused under Section 20(C) and Section 29 read with Section 20 of the Act.

While pronouncing the sentence on October 22, the court referred to observations of the Supreme Court highlighting the severe societal impact of narcotics-related offences.

Each convict was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh under Section 20(C) and another Rs 1 lakh under Section 29 read with Section 20 of the NDPS Act. In default of payment of each fine, the convicts will undergo an additional two years of rigorous imprisonment. The substantive sentences will run concurrently.

The court also directed the initiation of confiscation proceedings under Section 60 of the NDPS Act against the vehicle used to transport the contraband.

The NCB reiterated its commitment to the government’s vision of a ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’ (Drug-Free India) and urged the public to report drug trafficking through the MANAS National Narcotics Helpline at the toll-free number 1933. The identity of informants will be kept strictly confidential.

–IANS

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