Nahan, May 14,
In a crackdown on drug trafficking, the court of Sessions Judge, Yogesh Jaiswal, on Tuesday sentenced a Paonta Sahib resident to 11 years of rigorous imprisonment for possession of 2,800 banned capsules under the NDPS Act.
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The convict, Ravi Kumar, son of Purushottam and a resident of Ward No. 9, Devi Nagar, Tehsil Paonta Sahib, was also slapped with a fine of Rs one lakh. Failing to pay the fine would result in an additional two years of simple imprisonment.
According to Government Advocate Champa Sureel, the case dates back to the night of October 21, 2020, when ASI Inder Singh and his team were patrolling in a private vehicle near Singhpura on the Gorakhuwala road.
Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted a suspect matching the informer’s description — dressed in a black lower and grey T-shirt, carrying a white plastic bag.
At around 11 p.m., the patrol team spotted the suspect near Khodowala and conducted a search. Inside his carry bag were two polythene packets — one white and one pink — containing a total of 2,800 intoxicant capsules. The white bag held 1,500 blue capsules, while the pink one contained 1,300 similar capsules.
The prosecution produced 19 witnesses, and the court found the evidence conclusive. Judge Jaiswal, in his verdict, emphasized the growing threat of synthetic drugs and stated that stringent punishment was essential to send a strong message against such crimes.
The conviction marks another success in the state’s fight against drug peddling, which has seen a rise in recent years, particularly in border areas like Paonta Sahib, where traffickers often exploit remote routes for illegal transport.
