Lankans get 11 years’ RI for drug trafficking in India

Three Sri Lankans, arrested in 2005 with 20.1 kg of heroin, were found guilty of the offence and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 11 years each in India.

While the principal special judge for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act Court A. J. Muruganandam directed the first two accused Riyaz Farooq and Suber Mubarak to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakhs each, the third accused, Sujith Nishantha, was asked to pay Rs 3 lakhs as fine.

According to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Farooq and Mubarak were arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence sleuths in May 2005 at a hotel in Kilpauk. A total of 20.1 kg of heroin was recovered from them.

Based on their statements, DRI sleuths arrested Nishantha at Chennai airport when he was about to board a plane. The case was later handed over to the NCB for further proceedings.

The accused told the sleuths that they planned to smuggle the contraband to Sri Lanka via Thiruvananthapuram. Judge Murugnanatham, finding the prosecution case coherent and beyond reasonable doubt, sentenced each to 11 years rigorous imprisonment.

Times of India