Attack by enemy 20-yr RI to 8 Pak nationals in drug case

2015 CASE | Special court also slaps ₹6 lakh fine; says ruling will be a lesson to Pakistan

- Charul Shah Joshi

The special court for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, on Wednesday, handed out maximum punishment of rigorous imprisonment of 20 years to eight Pakistani nationals caught in a Pakistan-registered boat with 232kg of heroin (worth Rs6.96 crore at the time) sealed in packets in 11 blue drums in April 2015. The court also imposed a fine of Rs6 lakh, observing that it was an attack on Indian society by an enemy country.

On April 21, 2015, Coast Guard officials were patrolling in a vessel named Sangram at the National Maritime Border in Gujarat. At 3.10am, the radar intercepted a boat with no flag on it, nearly 157 nautical miles off Mithapur. The boat, identified as Al Yasir, was registered in Pakistan and carried eight Pakistani nationals, found with 11 drums of heroin. The next day, they were escorted to Porbandar and a case was lodged by the Yellow Gate police station.