The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : 16 acquitted in drug seizure case

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 01, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

16 acquitted in drug seizure case

Staff Reporter

Court says composition of seized drug and that of banned substance not same

HYDERABAD: All the 16 accused persons in the case pertaining to seizure of 1,300 kg of methaqualone, a banned chemical under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, from a chemical factory in Ranga Reddy district, have been acquitted here on Thursday.

The case was filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials after raiding the premises of M/s Nepa Chem Laboratories at Bibinagar in Nalgonda and Masanapally in Ranga Reddy district in 2002. The DRI officials charged that the huge quantity of chemical seized from the two places was a banned substance under NDPS Act.

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Sessions Judge, B. Raja Gopala Reddy, in his verdict, stated that the chemical composition of the seized methaqualone and that of the banned substance under NDPS Act was not the same. He also held that the DRI officials did not comply with the mandatory provisions pertaining to search and seizure under the Act.

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