Lankan caught with heroin in India acquitted

A special court for NDPS cases on Tuesday freed a 26-year-old Sri Lankan national caught carrying more than 1.5 kg of heroin, saying his guilt could not be established by the prosecution.

According to the prosecution, the accused was caught by a customs officer at Chennai airport on January 23, 2009. After a check revealed the narcotic in a keyboard in his bag, he was arrested. The accused told officials the keyboard belonged to a man named Sudha who had asked him to give the keyboard and two photo albums to his (Sudha's) wife in Sri Lanka.

“The prosecution failed to explain the steps taken to trace Sudha's details and also did not produce the photo albums seized. The onus is on the prosecution to establish the accused either had control or right and claim over the contraband seized,” said the judge.

Courtesy: Times of India