The court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track Special Court for Trial of Offences under the NDPS Act) on Thursday sentenced a man to five years of rigorous imprisonment for growing opium poppy plants in his yard.
As per the information, the court held Balbir Singh, a resident of Jandheri village in Ambala, guilty. The Naggal police had recovered 302 poppy plants during a search on March 20 in 2019.
Ambala Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Nitin said on March 20, 2019, the police had received information about poppy plants being grown by Balbir Singh in a yard at his property, and if a raid was conducted, the plants could be recovered. Following the information, the police formed a raiding party. During the inspection, the police found that the accused had planted poppy plants behind a wall of bricks without any permission on his property.
On counting, 302 plants were found and they were uprooted. The total weight of the uprooted plants was about 8.5 kg. A case was registered under the NDPS Act at the Naggal police station. He was booked for planting poppy on his property without a permit or a licence. The prosecution had examined 13 witnesses in the case.
Ambala District Attorney Jang Bahadur Singh said the court held Balbir Singh guilty for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 18(C) of the NDPS Act and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for five years. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him.
