Ahmedabad, March 3 (IANS) A Special Court in Ahmedabad sentenced two drug traffickers to 15 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh each in the 2019 case related to possession of 3.983 kg of charas, a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) official said on Tuesday.

Bharuch Additional District and Sessions Court has convicted both the accused — Malek Shirin Bano, 40, and Firoj Khan Pathan, 48, and sentenced them to 15 years of RI along with a fine under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985 (as amended).

The NCB said that Malek Shirin Bano, a resident of Gujarat’s Bharuch, and Firoj Khan Pathan, a resident of Dariyapur in Ahmedabad, were arrested at the Bharuch Railway Station on October 12, 2019, when they arrived on the Paschim Express.

“Both accused were found in conscious and exclusive possession of 3.983 kg of charas, which were seized under a duly drawn panchnama in the presence of independent witnesses,” an NCB statement said.

A complaint was filed before the Bharuch Additional District and Sessions Court on April 7, 2020, for offences punishable under Sections 8(c), 20(b)(ii)(C) and 29 of the NDPS Act, 1985.

The statement said the meticulous investigation and diligent prosecution by the NCB Ahmedabad Zonal Unit have ensured that justice is delivered, protecting communities from the devastating consequences of narcotic drug abuse.

In another case, a Special Court in Ahmedabad sentenced a drug trafficker to 12 years of RI and slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh in a mephedrone smuggling case of 2023, an NCB official said on Monday.

An Additional Sessions Judge at Ahmedabad convicted Mohammad Irfan Usmangani Saiyad, a resident of Kalupur in Ahmedabad, in the case.

The case pertained to the seizure of 155 grams of mephedrone and 43 grams of charas at Kalupur Railway Station in Ahmedabad in February 2023, which led to the arrest of the drug trafficker.

–IANS

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