MADURAI: The 1st Additional Special Court for NDPS Act cases in Madurai awarded 12 years rigorous imprisonment to five people for smuggling 215 kg of ganja in Dindigul in 2019.
The accused were identified as M Bose (68), his son Manimaran (40), S Nagarajan (36), S Selvi (46) and S Murugan (44).
The prosecution alleged that the above five people had planned to buy ganja at a low rate and sell it for a higher price. They bought 215 kg ganja from Bose’s relatives and brought it to his home in two-wheelers, where they had reportedly made small parcels from the ganja to sell it in other districts. On December 6, 2017, the Dindigul Taluk police, based on a tip off, inspected Bose’s house and found the parcels in a shed in front of his house. The five were arrested and the ganja parcels were seized. Three others, including Bose’s relatives A Ravi and his brother Gubendran, were also arrested.
1st Additional Special Judge A S Hariharakumar found all the five individuals guilty and sentenced them to 12 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 1 lakh. However, Ravi, Gubendran and their associate C Siva were acquitted from the case due to lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, the judge convicted and sentenced a history sheeter A Karthick (27) to 10 years RI with Rs 1 lakh fine for smuggling 225 kg ganja in Madurai in July 2017. Three others, including his father P Ayyampillai, who was recently convicted by the court in an identical case, were acquitted.