PESHAWAR, Dec 20: The additional district and sessions judge, Shehbar Khan, on Friday sentenced three drug traffickers to 25 years rigorous imprisonment with Rs1 million fine each.

The judge ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond any shadow of doubt.

The court acquitted a co-accused, Waris Khan. Waris was travelling in the vehicle in which the drug was concealed.

The court issued perpetual arrest warrants for one of the absconding accused, Rabli Khan, and declared him proclaimed offender.

The three accused had named Rabli as their leader after the recovery of the contraband from them.

The public prosecutor, Saleem Khan, informed the court that the accused — Malik Jan, Zarman Shah and Shad Mir, all residents of the Khyber Agency — were arrested on the spot and drug was recovered from the vehicle in their presence.

The prosecutor said there was enough evidence against the accused.

The accused were arrested by the CID personnel at Kacha Garhi on Dec 29, 1999, when they were travelling in their pick-up.

The personnel had recovered 27 kilograms of heroin, concealed in the front seats of the vehicle bearing registration No PRB-4932.

An FIR was registered at the CID police under Section 9 of the Control of Narcotics Substance Act.

The CID claimed that the accused belonged to an international gang of narco-traders and were smuggling heroin to Punjab from where they had to smuggle it to a foreign country.

BAIL GRANTED: The Peshawar High Court on Friday granted bail to a person accused in a case of drug pushing.

The bench, comprising Justice Abdur Rauf Lughmani, directed that the accused-applicant, Liaquat Ali, a resident of Lakki Marwat, should be released on the submission of two sureties of Rs200,000 each.

The Jhangalkhel police had claimed that the accused, possessing 2kg of hashish, was travelling in a flying coach.

Advocate Noor Alam Khan appeared for the applicant and argued that after the recovery of contraband the police had not obtained samples from it on the spot.

He said that under the law the police had to write an application to the chemical examiner for testing the seized drug, but that requirement had also not been fulfilled.

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