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Chandigarh: 50-year-old caught with banned injections jailed for 15 years
The court of additional sessions judge Jaibir Singh also imposed a fine of ₹1.5 lakh on the convict, Pappu, a resident of Bapu Dham Colony in Chandigarh
A 50-year-old resident of Bapu Dham Colony, who was found carrying 410 vials of banned injections in March 2019, has been sentenced to 15-year rigorous imprisonment (RI).
The court of additional sessions judge Jaibir Singh also imposed a fine of ₹1.5 lakh on the convict, Pappu.
According to the case files, police had spotted Pappu acting suspiciously on noticing a patrolling team in Sector 26 on March 7, 2019.
As he tried to walk off briskly, police caught him and recovered 205 vials of pheniramine maleate and 205 vials of buprenorphine, both restricted injections, from his possession. An FIR under Section 22 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered at the Sector-26 police station following the recovery.
In court, Pappu’s defence counsel argued that he was set up by the cops and his wife had also made a complaint regarding this to the Chandigarh senior superintendent of police (SSP), but no action was taken.
The counsel contended that Pappu was picked up by the police around 5.25 pm on March 7, 2019, while he was on his way to the Sector-26 grain market on a scooter for shopping.
He was taken to the Sector-11 police station and beaten by cops, who also used electric shocks to torture him.
The defence also called the BSNL nodal officer for the tower locations of the police personnel who arrested the accused to prove that they were not present at the time or point of arrest.
However, the prosecution argued that there were minor contradictions in the timings, which could also be due to wrong computer settings. They added that the accused had himself admitted that he had been convicted under the NDPS Act previously as well.
Taking note of the submissions, the court observed that the prosecution had established the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt and had examined nine witnesses to prove that he was arrested with the drugs.
The location of the cops was also at or near the place of recovery and later together at the police station. The court observed that the price of the drug didn’t affect the case and the heavy quantity of the drugs recovered indicated that the case was genuine.
As such, the court awarded the accused 15-year RI and a fine of ₹1.5 lakh, an enhanced punishment under section 31 of the NDPS Act due to his previous conviction.
