A local court in Bhubaneswar on Friday convicted three drug peddlers and sentenced them to 20 years rigorous imprisonment after the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha police seized 4.458 kilograms of heroin valued at Rs 4 crore from them in June 2020.
“The Court of 2nd Additional District Judge cum Special Judge, Bhubaneswar convicted the accused persons- Debasish Behera, Prabir Kumar Singh, Sk Kausar Alli under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985”, Rashmiranjan Brahma, Special Public Prosecutor said.
The accused were convicted and sentenced to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) for 20 Years & to pay a fine of 1 lakh and in default, RI for one more year, he said.
The accused, who were all from Bengal-bordering Balasore district, were transporting the banned substances in a SUV after procuring the same from West Bengal. The STF sleuths acting on a tip-off had intercepted them near busy Rasulgarh crossing in Bhubaneswar on 19 June 2020.
The Court, relying on the statement of 13 witnesses and 79 documents, found them guilty under the NDPS act.
The seized contraband has already been destroyed as per order of the Court.
STF is the specialised wing of Odisha Police to curb the organised crime in the State.
Narcotic drugs are the main focus area of STF and it will continue its drive against the interstate drug trafficking network, the law enforcement agency said.
This is the first case in Odisha where the accused were convicted 20 years imprisonment under NDPS Act, 1985, STF claimed.
The banned substances, mostly heroin, are making their way to Odisha from Murshidabad in West Bengal.
Balasore district bordering Bengal has become the gateway to drug peddling networks in the State.
The source point of heroin smuggling in the State owes its origin to Murshidabad. The organised rackets of drug peddlers based in Balasore have spread their network to major urban centres- Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Puri- of the State, STF officials concluded.