Bhubaneswar: The Court of Second Additional District Judge-cum-Special Judge in Bhubaneswar convicted the three accused and sentenced them to undergo 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) for smuggling contraband brown sugar into Odisha. In addition, the court imposed a fine of 1 lakh on the trio.
The accused have been identified as Debasish Behera, Prabir Kumar Singh, and Sk Kausar Ali of Odisha’s Balasore district.
The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police arrested the three convicts in 2020 red-handed while they were transporting brown sugar in a vehicle. They had procured the narcotic from neighbouring West Bengal. Acting on a tip-off, the STF intercepted the trio at Rasulgarh crossing near Esplanade Mall in Bhubaneswar.
During the subsequent search, 4.458 kg of brown sugar and other incriminating materials were recovered and seized from their possession. During the trial, the prosecution examined 13 witnesses and exhibited 79 documents.
