Lucknow, Sep 26 — A Special Court (NDPS) sentenced nine drug traffickers to varying rigorous imprisonment sentences ranging from 20 years to 10 years in the 2021 seizure of 441 kg ganja in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad, an NCB official said on Saturday.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Firozabad, endorsed the findings of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Lucknow, and sentenced the convicts on Friday, the official said in a statement.
The convicts are: Yashpal Singh, R/o Lodha, Aligarh, UP – 20 years’ RI and Rs 2 lakh fine; Vivek, R/o Tilauthi, Hathras, UP – 15 years’ RI and Rs 2 lakh fine; Shishupal, R/o ADA Colony, Aligarh, UP – 15 years’ RI and Rs 2 lakh fine; Neeraj Saini, R/o Ballabhgarh, Haryana – 10 years’ RI and Rs 1 lakh fine; Vipin Pandit alias Vipin Sharma, R/o Vidhehpur, Mathura, UP – 10 years’ RI and Rs 1 lakh fine; Niraj Gupta, R/o Ayodhyapuri, Aligarh, UP – 10 years’ RI and Rs 1 lakh fine; Neeraj Kumar alias Bittu, R/o Surendra Nagar, Aligarh, UP – 10 years’ RI and Rs 1 lakh fine; Rinku Sharma, R/o Pawan Vihar, Agra, UP – 10 years’ RI and Rs 1 lakh fine and Pankaj Sharma, R/o Tilauthi, Hathras, UP – 10 years’ RI and Rs 1 lakh fine.
The NCB said in a statement that on November 4, 2021, Shikohabad Police Station, Firozabad, seized 441 kg of ganja from a truck bearing registration No. HR 38 X 9682. Rinku Sharma (co-driver) and Pankaj Sharma (driver) were arrested on the spot from the conscious possession of the contraband.
The contraband was concealed in a specially created cavity in the driver’s cabin of the truck. The seized contraband originated from Gajapati, Odisha and was destined for Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, the NCB said.
Later, the case was taken over by the NCB for further investigation. During the investigation, seven additional accused persons — Vipin Pandit alias Vipin Sharma, Niraj Gupta, Yashpal Singh, Neeraj Saini (who had taken the truck on lease), Vivek, Shishupal and Neeraj Kumar alias Bittu were arrested.
In this case, as part of the financial investigation, assets/properties worth Rs 32.12 lakh belonging to convicts were traced and frozen by the competent authority in 2024, while proceedings under the PITNDPS Act were also initiated against them, with orders passed against them in 2022 and 2023. The process for auction of the seized truck is underway, the NCB said.