Ahmedabad, Jul 27 A special NIA court here on Monday sentenced six Pakistani nationals to rigorous imprisonment of eight years after 330 kg of narcotics drug 'brown heroin' was seized in a mid-sea operation off the Jakhau coast in Gujarat's Kutch district in May 2019, while acquitting an Indian man.
The Pakistani nationals had dumped the packets containing the drug into the sea from their boat in Indian territorial waters after being intercepted by an ICG ship.
Special NIA Judge Hemang Rawal also handed down an imprisonment of five years under the Passport (Entry Into India) Rules, 1950, to the Pakistani convicts. Both the sentences will run concurrently. The court imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on each of the convicts under the Foreigners Act.
The court, however, acquitted them under the stringent UAPA and NDPS Act, citing the prosecution’s failure to establish the crime beyond doubt.
The court acquitted an Indian man, who was the intended recipient of the consignment, under the benefit of doubt. He was supposed to receive the delivery of narcotic drugs mid-sea in an Indian boat.
According to the NIA, the funds generated from smuggling were supposed to be used for a terrorist organisation and carrying out terrorist acts.
The NIA, which probed the case, had charged the six Pakistani nationals under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, Indian Penal Code, and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
On May 20, 2019, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Gandhidham, Kutch, had received an intelligence input about a Pakistani fishing boat trying to deliver narcotic drugs to a recipient in Indian territorial waters off the Jakhau coast.
After the Indian Coast Guard, ICG ship 'Arinjay' cornered a Pakistan-flagged ship following an alert by DRI on the morning of May 21, its crew members threw some suspicious bags into the sea. The ICG recovered a total of 194 packets of suspected narcotic drugs.
Seventeen more packets of narcotic drugs were recovered subsequently in a coastal area on different dates by other authorities, including the police, BSF, and others, as per the details of the case mentioned in the court's order.
The Pakistani boat, 'Al-Madina', was apprehended. During interrogation, the boat's captain, Safdar Ali, told investigators that he was aware of the delivery of the drug consignment to an Indian recipient.
A suspicious Indian fishing boat named 'Fezane Kirmani' was also apprehended.
During the examination of boats at Jakhau, the FSL, Bhuj, established that the seized narcotic drug was 'brown heroin', a prohibited substance under the NDPS Act, 1985.
The DRI seized a total of 194 packets of narcotic drugs weighing 217.856 kgs. During investigation, it was found that 330 packets of narcotic drugs, packed in 11 polypropylene bags, were brought by six Pakistani crew members into India for delivery.
Considering the gravity of the offence and its international linkages, the Ministry of Home Affairs directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the case vide order dated May 22, 2020.
The prosecution, which examined 16 witnesses, submitted that the seven persons had hatched a criminal conspiracy in connivance with nine other wanted accused for smuggling a huge quantity of narcotic drugs into India.
The six accused Pakistani nationals purchased the necessary incriminating material to smuggle 330 kgs of narcotic drugs from Karachi to Gujarat and loaded, transported, and imported the same for its delivery to an Indian recipient using the Pakistani ship 'Al-Madina,' as per the charge sheet.
It also submitted that the Indian man, Ramjhan Gani Palani, had attempted to take possession/delivery of the consignment in his boat, following which a case was registered under various sections of the NDPS Act, 1985.
