Malaysian man of Indian-origin sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Singapore
Singapore, Feb 5: A Malaysian man of Indian-origin has been sentenced to death by a court here for delivering heroin in Singapore and acting as a middleman for drug traffickers, according to a media report.
Kishor Kumar Raguan, 41, rode his motorcycle into Singapore to deliver a bag containing more than 900 grams of a powdery substance in July 2016. The four bundles inside the bag brought in were later analysed to contain 36.5 grams of heroin.
The law provides for the death penalty if the amount of heroin trafficked is more than 15 grams.
Singaporean national of Chinese-origin Pung Ah Kiang, 61, who received the bag from Raguan, was sentenced to life imprisonment for possessing the drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
In written grounds released on Friday, High Court Justice Audrey Lim said she found that both Raguan and Pung knew that the bundles contained heroin, The Straits Times newspaper reported on Friday.
Rejecting Raguan's defence that he believed the bag contained "stones", the judge said the Indian-origin man, who was involved in drug activities, had failed to show that he genuinely believed the bundles contained something innocuous.
She found that Kishor was told that the items to be delivered were "kallu", which he knew referred to heroin.
Justice Lim also rejected Pung's claim that he did not know what was in the bag and was merely keeping it temporarily for his brother-in-law.
She imposed life imprisonment on Pung as he was certified by the prosecution to have substantively assisted the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in disrupting drug trafficking activities, the report said.
"As the prosecution did not issue Kishor with a certificate of substantive assistance... I passed the mandatory death sentence on him," it quoted the judge as saying.
Raguan had brought the bag containing the bundles of drugs into Singapore on July 29, 2016, and delivered it to Pung near his Paya Lebar condominium.
Pung was arrested by CNB officers as he was walking back to his condominium. He was then escorted to his home, where more drugs were found.
Raguan's DNA was found on the bundles he delivered to Pung. The prosecution contended that Raguan knew he was delivering "kallu" - a street name for heroin - and was told to collect Singapore dollars 6,000 from Pung.
The prosecution said Raguan was no stranger to illegal drugs as he had acted as a middleman for drug transactions.
In his defence, Raguan said he was promised USD 160 to deliver something to Singapore and was told that the item was "like a stone". He claimed that he thought they could either be decorative stones or rocks and pebbles, but did not think too much about it.
The convict claimed that he unravelled the black tape of the bundles but did not recognise the "brown-coloured things" inside.
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Heavy rain, hailstorms likely to lash Uttarakhand on Tuesday; IMD issues warning
Dehradun/Pithoragarh (PTI): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for heavy rain and hailstorms across several districts of Uttarakhand on Tuesday, as temperatures remained markedly below normal in the region.
Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Champawat, and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Most places across all districts are expected to receive light to moderate rain or thunderstorms, while higher reaches are likely to witness snowfall, officials said on Monday.
The weather department warned of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail and intense spells of rain in six districts, including Dehradun and Nainital. Gusty winds with speeds reaching 40-50 kmph are also expected at isolated locations in these areas and other hilly districts.
In the state capital, Dehradun, the sky is forecast to remain partly cloudy with light rain and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds of 30-40 kmph.
The maximum and minimum temperatures in the city are expected to hover around 31 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Maximum temperatures during the past 24 hours remained markedly below normal in the hills and appreciably below normal in the plains. While no significant change in temperature is expected over the next 2-3 days, the IMD predicts a rise of 3-5 degrees Celsius during the subsequent 3-4 days.
Rainfall was recorded in several areas after 8.30 am today, with Ramnagar receiving 31.5 mm and Nainital recording 26.5 mm. Other areas, including Pithoragarh, Khatima and Champawat, also reported moderate precipitation.
Authorities have stopped a batch of 36 Adi Kailash pilgrims at the Dharchula base camp and placed the high-altitude yatra route on high alert following heavy rains and hailstorms in the district on Monday.
Dharchula SDM Ashish Joshi said the pilgrimage was halted due to adverse weather conditions. The issuance of new inner-line passes has been suspended until the weather normalises.
With 1,700 passes issued so far, pilgrims already at higher camps are being monitored for safety, the official added.
