Woman sentenced to 10yrs for drug peddling, fined ₹1 lakh

Rudrapur: Nearly six years after her arrest, a Rudrapur woman was convicted by a special NDPS court on Tuesday for trafficking prohibited narcotic injections and sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous jail term along with a hefty Rs 1 lakh fine.

The court stated an additional three months’ imprisonment in case of default of payment.According to the prosecution, Rampura outpost police received information in Feb 2020 that a woman was selling banned narcotic injections near Chand Masjid in the Khera area. A police team acted on the tip-off and apprehended the accused as she attempted to flee. She was 22 at the time. The police recovered 108 Buprenorphine injections, 108 Diazepam injections and 115 vials of Avil from her possession.A case was subsequently registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and a chargesheet was filed. The prosecution, represented by ADGC Deepak Kumar Arora, produced witnesses and evidence, after which Special Judge (NDPS) Deepali Sharma held the accused guilty.The court rejected the defence’s plea for leniency based on the convict’s gender and childcare responsibilities. The court observed: “The quantity of contraband recovered was several times higher than the commercial quantity.” The court added that such offences fuelled the illegal drug trade, endangered the youth and warranted stern punishment without leniency.