PESHAWAR: A local court on Tuesday convicted a man of narcotics trafficking and handed down 10 years imprisonment and Rs500,000 fine to him.

District and sessions judge Ashfaque Taj ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond any shadow of doubt the recovery of eight kilogrammes of heroin from the possession of the accused, Usman, a resident of Bara area in Khyber tribal district.

He, however, acquitted a co-accused, Ali Khan, due to a lack of evidence.

The court declared an absconding co-accused, Sadaqat, a resident of Hazar Khwani area, a proclaimed offender and issued perpetual warrants for his arrest and ordered the inclusion of his name in the database of fugitives.

About the prime accused, the court observed that the defence failed to prove the case to be false.

Peshawar court acquits co-accused over lack of evidence

It added that the records revealed that no mala fide on part of the police in the case was there.

“Nothing on [the case] file connotes that the police had any ill will with the accused facing trial,” it said.

According to the prosecution, the SHO of the Bana Mari police station had information that that a large amount of contraband would be smuggled from Khyber tribal district via the Peshawar’s Ring Road to Punjab in a vehicle on Sept 29, 2020.

It added that a police team cordoned off the road and signaled the vehicle’s driver to stop but he sped away. The police chased him and captured him to learn he was Usman, a resident of Bara area.

As the vehicle was searched, eight packets of heroin weighing eight kilogrammes were recovered from a secret cavity of the vehicle.

The FIR was registered under Section 9(D) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substance Act.

The prosecution claimed that during initial interrogation, the accused disclosed that he was smuggling narcotics for Rs1,000 per packet on behalf of the accused, including Sadaqat and Ali Khan.

The driver further disclosed that the vehicle was owned by the accused, who were waiting for the delivery of the narcotics in Duranpur area of Peshawar but that couldn’t happen due to the arrest of the driver.

Accused Ali Khan was also taken into custody, while Sadaqat is at large.

Senior public prosecutor Jehanzeb Khan argued that accused Usman was arrested after the recovery of the drugs from his possession and that the evidence available on record connected him with the commission of the offence.

BAIL GRANTED: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench granted bail to a man arrested on the charge of smuggling narcotics in a vehicle.

Justice Shakeel Ahmad accepted the bail petition of suspect Hikmat Jan on the condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs200,000 each.

Lawyers Malik Mushtaq and Adil Awan appeared for the petitioner and insisted that the Bana Mari police arrested their client on March 31, 2022, after the alleged recovery of 37kg charas from secret cavities of his vehicle.

They claimed that the petitioner was falsely implicated in the case as the evidence available on record confirmed that the contraband was not recovered from him.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2022