Chennai: Chemical supplier's side gig to supply pseudoephedrine to drug makers earns him five years jail time
After perusing the submissions from both sides, C Thirumagal, Principal Special Judge, Special Court under EC and NDPS act held the accused guilty and sentenced him to five years imprisonment.
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CHENNAI: After close to a two-decade career working in a chemical factory, he set up his own business of procuring chemicals for larger industries which he was running for a decade until his illegal side gig ran him aground. A special court in Chennai sentenced M Narasimha Rao (64) of Ranga Reddy district, Telengana to five years in prison after finding him guilty of interstate smuggling to supply 65 kg of pseudoephedrine to drug manufacturers.
"Pseudoephedrine is a precursor chemical that is used in the manufacture of Methamphetamine, a dangerous and highly addictive synthetic drug. Even though it has some legal uses, it is classified as a controlled substance in India, bringing strict regulation on its production, possession, trade, export and use, " according to the Narcotics Control Bureau.
NCB's Chennai zonal unit played spoilsport to Narasimha Rao's side gig in February 2014 after catching him red-handed with possession of pseudoephedrine after flagging his car at Vadakarai signal junction, Red Hills near Chennai. According to the prosecution, Rao told the investigators that he was paid Rs 25,000 by a man to deliver it to his associate in Tambaram.
NCB arrested Rao and after two months in jail, he was granted bail. Since the investigating agency could not trace the man who allegedly hired Narasimha Rao, the case against him was split up and Rao was tried separately in the case for illegal possession of pseudoephedrine.
During trial, the defence counsel argued that the accused's mother tongue is Telugu and that NCB officials had not explained the mandatory provisions under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psycotropic Substances) act in the language known to him. To this, the court noted that official records show that Rao had given voluntary statement in his own handwriting in English and held that the line of argument by defence counsel will not be considered.
After perusing the submissions from both sides, C Thirumagal, Principal Special Judge, Special Court under EC and NDPS act held the accused guilty and sentenced him to five years imprisonment.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the accused.