Man sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for possessing ganja

Dimapur, March 18 (EMN): A 32-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of INR 1 lakh by a court of special judge after he was convicted under section 20(b)(ii)(c) of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985, for possession of contraband ganja.

According to the court ruling, a copy of which is with this newspaper, Mezivolu T Therieh, NJS, special judge Phek, pronounced the judgement on Wednesday after the accused, Weshete Lohe, a resident of Mission colony in Pfutsero, was found guilty of possessing 50 kg ganja.

The court also ruled that the accused, who was on bail, be immediately taken into custody and sent to jail to serve the sentence. It went on to state that the accused had to undergo one year rigorous imprisonment in case of failure to pay the fine.

The court stated that Assam Rifles personnel found 50 kg of ganja stored inside an abandoned vehicle at Razeba road junction in Pfutsero on June 24 2019, and the same was produced at the Pfutsero Police Station along with the seized vehicle the following day before an FIR was filed.

It was found out during the police investigation that the accused had taken the vehicle from its owner on the date of the incident on false pretext of taking one sick family member for medical treatment, which was later admitted by the accused. However, the accused later pleaded not guilty, claiming that the substance belonged to another person who intended to give “some stuff” instead of certain amount of money owed to him.

The court, however, stated that the claim was “wholly imaginary and unbelievable” as the accused neither made any effort to prove his defence nor proved the nature of the “stuff” promised to him. The accused was sentenced based on the findings that the item in the vehicle was ganja; it weighed 50 kg; and the vehicle was in his possession till it was seized.

“It can be therefore safely be inferred beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was in possession of 50 kilogram of ganja and he alone had kept it inside the vehicle,” the court ruling read, adding that the accused was found guilty and hence sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, which is the minimum punishment for such crime, as there was no record of his involvement in narcotics business or has criminal antecedents.