Baltana man gets10-year jail in drug case, wife walks free

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 8

A local court today sentenced a Baltana resident to 10 years of imprisonment for possessing 147 kg of poppy husk. However, the convict’s wife, who was co-accused, has been acquitted as the prosecution failed to furnish evidence against her.

The convict, Sakir Sheikh (38), will also have to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

The defence counsel, Terminder Singh, said Noor Jahan, a police constable, was acquitted as the prosecution could not prove that she was present at the spot when the contraband was seized. As per the FIR, Noor Jahan’s search was conducted by a woman constable.

However, as per the counsel, the woman constable admitted in her evidence that she had reached the spot later and her signature was not there on the personal search memo.

As per the FIR, the couple was arrested at a check post in Sector 43 here on March 9, 2014, and 147 kg of poppy husk was recovered from them. The police claimed that the couple had been involved in drug smuggling for a while and in the latest case, they were caught carrying the contraband in a Mahindra SUV.

During the preliminary interrogation, it was revealed that the couple used to bring the contraband from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, and supply it in different parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.