2 get 10-year jail term for drug smuggling

Two persons were sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by a court here on Monday for smuggling drugs.

Mandi special judge R K Sharma ordered the convicts, Pradeep Kumar and Sunil Kumar, to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh each, failing which they would have to undergo a simple imprisonment of one year.

According to the prosecution, 1.31 kg of charas was recovered from their possession at Chamukha near Sundernagar town of Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district three years ago. The charas was kept inside a bag under the driver's seat of their car. A case was registered under Section 20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the police arrested the accused, who are from Haryana.

The prosecution examined 11 witnesses to prove its case. In its order, the court observed that the prosecution was successful in proving its case against the two beyond "reasonable doubt" and held them guilty for the offences.