TNNLudhiana: A local court has sentenced a man and three women to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment each after convicting them for conscious possession of 330g heroin in a 2018 case.Special court judge Manila Chugh also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on Saleem, his mother Sheelo, wife Babita and Moni. In case of default in payment of the fine, each will have to undergo another year of rigorous imprisonment.The case dates back to Nov 4, 2018, when Moti Nagar police received a tip-off alleging that the accused were selling heroin in their locality after procuring it from outside.Acting on the information, a police team raided their house in New Hari Krishan Colony, also known as Ghora Colony, in the Transport Nagar area. According to the prosecution, police found Saleem and the three women sitting on the floor and counting currency notes.Police claimed that on seeing the raiding team, Saleem put a black and a green polythene bag beneath a cot. A search allegedly yielded 330g heroin, an electronic weighing scale, 42 small polythene bags and a steel spoon.Police also recovered Rs 2.78 lakh in alleged drug money from the black polythene bag.During the investigation, the accused allegedly told police that they had purchased the heroin from Sikandar alias Kali, following which he was nominated in the case.Another accused, Mithun Kumar, was subsequently nominated after Saleem allegedly told investigators that they were also involved in supplying intoxicating medicines. Police later claimed to have recovered 1,350 tablets containing alprazolam from Mithun’s house. He was declared a proclaimed offender during the trial.Saleem, Sheelo, Babita and Moni pleaded innocence and alleged false implication. Their counsel questioned the prosecution case on the ground that no independent witness had been joined at the time of recovery.The court, however, held that non-joining of an independent witness was not by itself fatal to the prosecution case. It observed that there was nothing in the testimony of the key prosecution witnesses to render their evidence unworthy of acceptance in the absence of an independent witness.Observing that the prosecution witnesses inspired confidence, the court held that the charge against Saleem, Sheelo, Babita and Moni under Section 21 of the NDPS Act had been proved.
