PESHAWAR: A local court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 14 years rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs500,000 for smuggling narcotics from Khyber district to Punjab.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Bakht Alam pronounced that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused, namely Mohammad Shehbaz, a resident of Peshawar, without any shadow of doubt.

The FIR against the accused was registered with the Chamkani police station on Feb 13, 2021, under section 9-D of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substance Act.

Deputy public prosecutor for the state, Shah Saud, stated that the local police had information about smuggling of narcotics from Khyber district to Punjab through a car, after which they had put up a blockage on the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway.

He said that the police party stopped a suspected car, which was driven by the accused. He stated that on search the police team recovered different packets of narcotics concealed in secret portions of the car. He added that the seized contraband included over three kilogrammes of heroin and 6.2 kilogrammes of charas.

He argued that the accused was caught red-handed while smuggling the contraband and the evidence on record fully connected him with the commission of the offence.

The deputy public prosecutor maintained that the accused was charged for a heinous offence and he did not deserve any leniency.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2022