Bhubaneswar, May 10: In a landmark ruling, three individuals in Odisha have been handed a historic conviction of 20 years imprisonment under the NDPS Act of 1985 for their involvement in the illegal trade of brown sugar.

The convicted individuals, identified as Debasish Behera, Prabir Kumar Singh, and Sk Kausar Alli from Balasore district, were sentenced by the Court of the 2nd Additional District Judge-cum-Special Judge, Bhubaneswar. Alongside the rigorous imprisonment (RI) term, they were also fined ₹1 lakh each.

The trio came under the scrutiny of the Special Task Force (STF) in 2020 while in transit with brown sugar acquired from West Bengal. Senior officials reported that the interception occurred at Rasulgarh crossing near Esplanade mall in Bhubaneswar.

Subsequent searches led to the confiscation of a significant quantity of contraband brown sugar weighing 4.458 kilograms, along with other implicating evidence, from their possession. Throughout the trial, the prosecution presented testimony from 13 witnesses and submitted 79 relevant documents.

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