Drug smuggler held guilty by special ED court in Amritsar
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Jun, 2023 12:50 PM
New Delhi, June 2 (IANS) A Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court in Jalandhar has awarded four years of rigorous imprisonment to one Mahabir Singh, a drug smuggler in Amritsar for committing the offence of money laundering.
The court while awarding him a jail term also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on him.
The ED said that his immovable properties which were earlier attached, were confiscated under Section 8(5) of the PMLA.
The ED initiated PMLA investigation against the accused in 2009 on the basis of an FIR registered at the Sada police station, Amritsar, under various sections of the NDPS Act and the Arms Act.
Singh was earlier convicted under the NDPS Act and was held guilty for possessing 15 kg of heroin.
Investigation conducted by the ED revealed that the proceeds of crime generated from drug trade were invested by the accused in immovable properties which were subsequently attached by the ED.
After investigation, the ED filed a prosecution complaint in 2017 under the provisions of PMLA.
The court found the accused guilty and awarded him a jail term.
According to the cause list uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.K. Maheshwari will pronounce the order on January 25. The apex court had reserved its order on Mishra's plea on January 19.
Accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala is accused of killing his live-in partner Walkar and then chopping her body into several pieces and storing them in a refrigerator before disposing of them in the Chhatarpur forest near his house over a period of three months.
After the process of identification is over, the bodies will be brought to Ghazipur. On January 16, family members of the four youths were sent to Kathmandu by road with head of Chak Jainab village Vijay Jaiswal, nayab tehsildar and a revenue inspector to claim and bring back the bodies.
Also on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the occasion of Parakram Jayanti and said: "Today, on Parakram Diwas, I pay homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and recall his unparalleled contribution to India's history."
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Health Minister Balbir Singh said the inauguration program would be held in Amritsar on January 27. The Chief Minister will inaugurate the clinics, while AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will attend the programme as the chief guest.
A police official said that during normal checking of vehicles on Sunday night in Imphal, two persons were apprehended and the drugs, smuggled from Myanmar, were recovered from their procession. The drug peddlers, identified as Md. Abdul Salam and Md. Wasim Akram, have been arrested under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
