Madurai court sentences ganja smuggler, peddlers to imprisonment in two cases

Madurai: The first additional district court for NDPS Act cases in Madurai sentenced a ganja smuggler to 10 years of imprisonment and imposed a 1 lakh fine for smuggling 225kg of ganja in 2017. The same court convicted five more ganja peddlers from Dindigul district to 12 years of imprisonment and imposed 1 lakh fine each in a case registered in 2019.The Madurai city police received information on Aug 30, 2017, about ganja smuggling, prompting the police to tighten their surveillance. The vehicle check-up was intensified. Based on suspicion, they intercepted a car near ESI Hospital, Thathaneri, and the police found 225kg of ganja concealed in the car.Sellur police filed a complaint and arrested A Karthik, who was 27 years old in 2017. His accomplices, P Ayyampillai, 60, P Vijayakumar, 33, and Abdul Rahim, 44, were also arrested based on Karthik's confession.All four were remanded and lodged in prison. The principal special court for NDPS Act cases was hearing the cases. The court concluded the hearing on Monday and found Karthik guilty of smuggling ganja. Judge Harihara Kumar convicted Karthik, sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined him 1 lakh.Madurai commissioner of police J Loganathan appreciated Sellur police for their investigation.In the case pertaining to Dindigul district, Dindigul taluk police intercepted three motorcycles at Samiyarpatti in Dindigul district on Dec 6, 2019. They seized 215kg of ganja and arrested eight people who were identified as Bose, Manimaran, Nagarajan, Selvi, Murugan, Ravi, Gubendran, and Siva.Judge Hariharakumar convicted and sentenced Bose, Manimaran, Nagarajan, Selvi, and Murugan to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment. The court acquitted Ravi, Gubendran, and Siva from the case.