KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Monday upheld the life imprisonment handed down to two persons in a drug peddling case.

A special court for control of narcotic substances had sentenced Lal Mohammad and Sirajuddin to life in prison in March 2020 for transporting 176 kilograms of hashish in a truck on Northern Bypass in September 2019.

The appellants, through their counsel, challenged their conviction before the SHC and after hearing both sides and examining the record and proceedings, a two-judge bench comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Khadim Hussain Tunio dismissed the appeals and maintained the verdict of the trial court.

The bench in its judgement observed that the chemical examiner’s report fully corroborated the evidence of all prosecution witnesses and all necessary protocols were followed in the chemical report.

Police arrested two truck drivers and recovered 176kg hashish in 2019

“The prosecution has provided an uninterrupted chain of facts ranging from arrest and seizure to forensic analysis of the contraband and all the witnesses have unanimously deposed against the appellants,” it added.

It further noted that the evidence of police officials found independent and it was corroborated by a witness, customs clearing agent.

It said the appellants did not able to allege or prove any animus against the witnesses.

About the defence plea raised that they were arrested from Nooriabad after the complainant allegedly let the real culprits go after taking a bribe, the bench said that no animus had been proved against the prosecution or complainant of the present case.

“Suffice it to say that nothing was brought on record to suggest that the appellants were not arrested by the police from the truck as per evidence. Mere assertion of appellants that they had been involved falsely in the narcotics case, in absence of any tangible evidence, was of no consequence nor did it create any doubt about the recovery of narcotics,” it added.

According to the prosecution, complainant Sub-Inspector Aijaz Butt got information about one Haji Noor Muhammad Achakzai, an international drug peddler, was smuggling a huge quantity of narcotics to Karachi and hiding the same in secret shelves of a truck.

A police party of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CID) set up a checkpoint at Northern Bypass and eventually spotted the truck and arrested both drivers, Lal Muhammad and Siraj.

It said they disclosed the presence of narcotics within secret shelves and claimed that they were delivering the consignment on behalf of Haji Noor.

The prosecution maintained that the raiding CTD team had recovered a total of 176 kilograms of hashish in 250 packets concealed in secret compartments of the truck.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2022