Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Mar 11: The offence has been proven against T P Farooq in a case related to the transport and sale of the narcotic substance ganja. The principal district and sessions court has fixed March 16 to hear arguments on the quantum of punishment.
It may be recalled, based on credible information that T P Farooq (56), a resident of Bunder, and Sagar Singh (28), a resident of Rajpur VDC in Dang Zone, Nepal, were travelling by car from Mangaluru to Melkar to sell ganja on November 10, 2020, Bantwal Town police conducted a raid at around 6.20 pm and took the accused into custody.
During the inquiry, police seized 1.375 kg of ganja from the boot of the car belonging to T P Farooq. When the accused were subjected to a body search, 60 grams of ganja packed in four plastic packets of 15 grams each was found in the pocket of Farooq’s pants. Similarly, 45 grams of ganja packed in three packets of 15 grams each was recovered from the pocket of Sagar Singh’s pants.
The police also seized the car, mobile phones and cash, and registered a case at Bantwal Town police station under the NDPS Act. The then Bantwal circle police inspector T D Nagaraj completed the investigation and filed the charge sheet before the court.
Sagar Singh, the second accused in the case, obtained bail and later absconded. The case against him has been separated as a split-up case.
In the trial, government prosecutor Judith Olga Margaret Crasta examined a total of 10 witnesses, and 29 documents were marked before the court. Principal district and sessions judge Basavaraj, in his judgment delivered on March 9, held T P Farooq guilty under Sections 8(c) and 20(b)(2)(b) of the NDPS Act. Arguments on sentencing will be heard on March 16.
Farooq, who had been on bail, has been taken into judicial custody. According to the government prosecutor, he may face a maximum sentence of up to 10 years.
Another ganja-related case has also been registered against T P Farooq at Mangaluru South police station. That case was registered on February 5, 2023, and is currently under trial in court.