MADURAI: A special court for NDPS cases in Madurai awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment to three people, including former assistant to public relations officer AD Arun, in a ganja smuggling case.
I Additional District Judge J Flora found the trio - AD Arun, and his accomplices S Ravi, and M Sriram - guilty and slapped a fine of Rs 3 lakh on each. The seized ganja is to be destroyed through proper forum, the court said.
The incident happened in June 2018, when Arun, Ravi, and Sriram were on their way through the Batlagundu-Kodaikanal Road in Dindigul district in a vehicle. Acting on a tip-off, sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) intercepted the vehicle on the Lakshmipuram toll gate road in the night and found 251.5 kg ganja inside.
The officials detained the three for procuring, transporting, and attempting to illegally sell the banned products, and seized 114 parcels. Sources said that the trio had bought the ganja for Rs 3 lakh from Andhra Pradesh.
Though the accused claimed innocence in hearings, the court said the quantity is so large that the question of implanting did not arise nor had any circumstance been shown, which could indicate false implication of the accused. A case was registered under Sections 8(c) r/w 20(b)(ii)(c), 25, 27¬A, 28 and 29 of the NDPS Act by NCB. Following the case, Arun was sacked from the post of APRO.