The Cuttack District an Sessions Court on Monday convicted a 23-year-old Bihari youth under the NDPS Act for illegally possessing around 24 kg of ganja and sentenced him to undergo 11 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI).
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him and ordered that in the event of nonpayment of the fine, he shall undergo RI for another year.
Judge SN Mishra observed that Special Public Prosecutor of Narcotics Crime Bureau Gyanalok Mohanty proved the charges under Section 20 B (ii) (c) of the NDPS Act levelled against the accused Roshan Kumar beyond any doubt. The accused had been arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) at the Cuttack railway station on April 1, 2015. Since then, he is lodged in the Choudwar Circle Jail as his prayers for interim bail were repeatedly denied.
According to prosecution, Roshan was apprehended with the contraband from platform-1 of the railway station when he was waiting to board a New Delhi-bound express train. He had allegedly collected the stuff from Dhenkanal district and was carrying it to Bihar.