Weeks before guilty verdict in ganja smuggling case, Tripura man flees to Bangladesh; co-accused gets 10-year jail

CHENNAI: A Tripura man awaiting the verdict in a ganja case has escaped to Bangladesh, just weeks before the judgment by a special court sentenced two of his co-accused to 10 years’ imprisonment for possession of 25 kg of ganja.

From an accused in a ganja case, which could have gone either way, Suman Akter (25) is now a fugitive with a LOC (Look Out Circular) against his name. The ganja case against him will be tried separately when he is arrested.

On Friday, a special court found the co-accused, Maman Miah (26) and Jahir Hossain (25), guilty. The trio were arrested by the Semmenchery police on November 15, 2021, near Sholinganallur. They were in possession of 1 kg of ganja. When they searched the suspects’ rented residence, they found 24 kg of ganja.

During the trial, Maman did not get bail and has been in judicial custody to date, while the other two got bail about a year ago. While the final verdict was to be announced on March 8 this year, Jahir and Suman did not appear before the court, after which an NBW (non-bailable warrant) was issued against them. While Jahir was secured by the Semmenchery police on March 12 and produced before the court, Suman could not be secured.

A special team from Tambaram City police travelled to Tripura and conducted enquiries with the suspect’s foster parents and local villagers. They learnt that Suman had fled to Bangladesh and changed his name to Rafi, according to a report filed by the Semmenchery police before the special court.

Noting the developments, Additional Special Judge J Juliet Pushpa, special court for trial of cases under NDPS Act, ordered for the case against Suman to be split up and passed the verdict against the other two, from whose house the bulk of ganja was seized.

The defence counsels, on their part, argued that the suspects were not familiar with Tamil and that their rights were not explained in a language known to them. However, the prosecution submitted that the suspects had been working in the city since 2013 and were well acquainted with Tamil. Their house owners too had stated in the cross-examination that the suspects knew Tamil.

The defence argued that the ganja seized from their house originally belonged to the house owner and suggested that police foisted the case against the trio to help the owner. The court pointed out that there was no evidence to show any animosity between the owner and the suspects and stressed that the bulk seizure was made based on the confession by Maman after recovery of 1 kg ganja at a public place. “Hence the counsel’s argument for the accused does not hold good,” the court noted.

After perusing the submissions from Special Public Prosecutor K Nandhagopal and defence counsels, Judge Pushpa held Maman and Jahir guilty, and sentenced them both to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of the accused.