Bhubaneswar: A local court in Bhubaneswar Thursday sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him in a drugs case, an officer said.
The second additional district judge-cum-special judge (NDPS), Bhubaneswar, convicted Chittaranjan Sahoo (39) under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on Sahoo. In case he fails to pay the fine, Sahoo will have to undergo additional rigorous imprisonment for a year, the officer added.
The conviction comes more than two years after Sahoo was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha Crime Branch from a rented house in Unit-8 area of Bhubaneswar in May 2023, while he was allegedly dealing in brown sugar (heroin).
During the search, brown sugar weighing 1,100 grams and other incriminating materials were recovered.
This is the fourth conviction in Odisha where an accused has been awarded the maximum punishment of 20 years under the NDPS Act, an STF official said.
PTI
