Lucknow: A court in Bahraich has sentenced a 31-year-old Nepalese woman to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh in a 2017 case involving the seizure of 2.502 kg of opium, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said.
The sentence was pronounced by Additional District and Sessions Judge, Bahraich, against Sunita Pun, a resident of Sarlahi, Nepal, under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. After considering the evidence, the court convicted Pun and sentenced her to 12 years’ rigorous imprisonment along with the fine.
The NCB said the court held that the contraband was in Pun’s possession with the intention of being sold and that the quantity recovered constituted a commercial quantity under the NDPS Act. During the trial, the prosecution highlighted the quantity of opium recovered and described it as a commercial quantity. It also argued that the offence involved cross-border drug trafficking and sought stringent punishment, citing the alleged adverse impact of narcotics on society.