NCB in shock after courtroom acquits’huge catch’ El Salvador citizen

Express News Service

KOCHI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is in a shock after a trial courtroom acquitted one in every of its main catches, an El Salvador citizen, who was nabbed for smuggling in 2kg of cocaine from Kochi airport based mostly on an intelligence enter in 2018.

Now to beat the setback confronted within the trial courtroom, NCB has determined to attraction in opposition to the acquittal within the Kerala High Court after its authorized group discovered that the decrease courtroom had handed the order with out considering the statutory presumptions obtainable beneath Sections 35, 54 and 66 of NDPS Act whileconsidering the case.

It was on May 8, 2018 that NCB arrested Johny Alexander Duran Sola who reached Kochi airport from Dubai. The arrest was celebrated as an enormous catch by NCB officers then claiming that the accused was a part of a global drug smuggling racket.

But, the latest Ernakulam Sessions Court’s order acquitting him of all costs has raised many eyebrows with the courtroom declaring sure lapses on the a part of the NCB officers that resulted within the failure of the prosecution to show the costs in opposition to Johny Alexander. The courtroom, in its judgment, identified lapses by prosecution witnesses together with the NCB officers like PW1, PW5 and PW6.

“PW6, an intelligence officer of the same rank of PW1, was entrusted with the investigation. Exhibits P26 to P42 were the documents prepared by him during the course of his investigation,” the judgment stated. PW6 admitted that he didn’t know the genuineness of reveals P27, P31, P33, P35 and P36 sequence and P39. He had not verified whether or not they have been right or not.

The judgment additionally identified that PW6 stated he had not recognized the place and in whose custody the properties have been earlier than these have been produced earlier than the realized Justice of the Peace. Material Object 1 —  the navy-blue color trolley bag from which the contraband was seized — had a quantity lock. But, in response to the prosecution witness, it was locked utilizing MO16 (lock and key). PW1, PW3 and PW5 stated the accused had given the important thing and it was opened utilizing that. But MO16 was not seized as per any data.

None of the witnesses knew the lock’s quantity. Interestingly, the investigating officer stated that he had by no means seen MO1, MO16 or different materials objects, it stated.

However, denying any procedural lapse, counsel M V S Nampoothiry, who appeared for NCB, informed TNIE that Sections 35, 54 and 66 of the NDPS Act make the trial in such circumstances completely different from the trial of IPC offences. “I am confident that the Kerala High Court will interfere with the order of the acquittal because of the legal infirmities that can be seen in the judgment of the case.”