Bapu Dham man gets RI in NDPS, Arms Act cases

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 18

A local court has sentenced Mintu, a resident of Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, to 20-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) after convicting him in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case. It also imposed a fine of Rs2 lakh on the convict.

The court has also sentenced Mintu to three-year RI under Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act and also imposed a fine of Rs25,000 on him. Both sentences will run concurrently. In case of default of the payment, the convict will have to undergo RI for one more year.

The police had arrested Mintu near the IT Park with 280-kg ganja, one pistol and five cartridges on May 12, 2019.

An FIR under Section 20 of the NDPS Act and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered against him at the IT Park police station. As per the prosecution, Mintu was arrested on a tip-off.

The police caught the accused while he was coming from the Kishangarh chowk and going towards the Shastri Nagar light point in an SUV. The police had recovered 14 bags of ganja weighing 280 kg, a pistol and five cartridges from the vehicle.

The rear seats of the vehicle were removed to make space for the bags containing ganja. Initially, the accused tried to mislead the police by claiming that the bags contained election campaign materials. During checking, the police found ganja in all bags.

The police claimed that the accused procured ganja at cheaper rates and was planning to sell it in the tricity. Mintu used to work as a fruit vendor at the Sabji Mandi in Sector 26 here. He sold drugs (ganja) at higher rates and further started lending money to small vendors at the mandi.

After hearing the arguments and examining the witnesses, the court convicted the accused and ordered him to undergo 20-year rigorous imprisonment under the NDPS Act. The court also imposed a fine of Rs2 lakh on him.