Drug syndicate busted, four arrested: Noida police
Noida (UP), Dec 24 : The police here have arrested four persons, including a couple, and seized over 26 kg of cannabis from them, claiming Monday to have busted an "organised syndicate" of drug dealers operating in the national capital region,
A team from Sector 20 police station apprehended the four Sunday in a raid at their hideout in a jhhugi cluster in Noida, Sector 18, an official said.
Those arrested included Hema, the syndicate's kingpin, her husband Sanjay alias Babu and their aides Pappu and Sajid, a senior officials said, adding that a man, who claims to be a journalist, is linked to the gang but is absconding.
As much as 26.5 kg of cannabis and a cash of Rs 35,000 as sale proceed of the contraband were seized from the accused," Superintendent of Police (Crime) Ashok Kumar said.
The officer described the gangsters' hideout as a "factory-like establishment" from where, he said, 10 kg of plastic used to make small packets, packaging equipment and weighing machine too were seized.
The gang procured cannabis from Ghaziabad and Bihar, among other places, and sealed it here in small plastic packets for local sale, Kumar said.
They sold the cannabis in packages worth Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 200, he said.
Dubbing the couple as kingpin of the gang, the SP said they had been involved in the illegal trade for quite some time now.
The couple and their accomplices have a criminal record too, Kumar said.
Two other gang members, identified as Prakash and Lalit Mohan, are absconding," the officer said, adding the latter one claims to be a journalist.
Asked about the role of the accused who claims to be a journalist, the officer said during interrogation it has emerged that he was an active member of the gang.
He is said to have facilitated the gang's work at different places and had an important role in its operations, the SP said.
A sedan, used by Babu to ferry the cannabis across the NCR, too was impounded, the police said.
Sector 20 Station House Officer Manoj Pant said the gang was on the police radar for long and its kingpin, Hema, had a well-connected network across the NCR.
Some months back, we had carried out an operation against drug traffickers and peddlers during which we had raided several slums. Hema especially was on our target but had managed to escape then to Bihar. She has finally been caught after a long chase, Pant, who led the raid Sunday, told PTI.
He said the gang's network was so effective that the amount seized from the scene (26.5 kg) was only for a day's consumption.
Those arrested have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, among other charges, the police said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
_vb_42.jpeg)
Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
_vb_97.jpeg)
_vb_62.jpeg)