Kupwara court rejects bail plea of drug peddler

Kupwara : A local in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Monday rejected the bail plea of a drug peddler, who was arrested by police along with contraband in September 2020.

An official told counsel for the accused, who was arrested following recovery of Heroin weighing 5 kgs had sought bail on the ground that accused is innocent person.

The counsel pleaded that there is no prima facie evidence on record which could prove involvement of Waqar in the crime and the investigation of the case is complete for which the charge sheet has been presented, as such there is no need to keep the accused under custody.

However, assistant public prosecutor, Dar Rashid strongly objected the plea of the accused for his enlargement on bail is premature as 04 prime prosecution witnesses out of 16 enlisted witnesses are yet to be recorded during trial, and the charges levelled against accused are henoius and anti-social in nature.

He argued that menace of drug trafficking has risen with an alarming rate in the country and particularly in J&K’s Kupwara.

After hearing the arguments, Principal District and Sessions Judge Kupwara, Khem Raj Sharma observed that the charge against the accused was framed when the prosecution succeeded in establishing that prima facie case is made out against the accused under section 8/21 of NDPS Act.

He said granting bail in the instant case would defeat the objective of the NDPS Act and hence bail plea of the accused is rejected. (KNS)