Bhubaneswar, (Reporterspen), May 10: In a significant legal precedent for Odisha, a Bhubaneswar court has sentenced three individuals to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 20 years under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act of 1985 for their involvement in illegal brown sugar trading.
The convicted individuals are Debasish Behera alias Rinku, Prabir Kumar Singh alias Situ, and Sk Kausar Alli. Rinku hails from Balasore’s Nilagiri, while Situ and Alli reside in Gopalgaon, Balasore town.
The Second Additional District Judge-cum-Special Judge, Bhubaneswar, delivered the RI verdict and additionally imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of them. Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional year of RI.
According to case records, the trio was apprehended by the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police on June 19, 2020, near Esplanade Mall in Rasulgarh, the capital of Odisha, while transporting brown sugar in a four-wheeler. The STF confiscated four kilograms and 458 grams of brown sugar and other incriminating materials obtained from West Bengal.
Following an investigation, a chargesheet was filed against the three under Section 21(c)/29 of the NDPS Act. Throughout the trial, the prosecution presented testimony from 13 witnesses and submitted 79 documents.
The seized contraband brown sugar has already been destroyed per the court’s directive, as confirmed by the police.
