Date:28/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/28/stories/2008112856930400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

5 get 20-year jail in drugs case

Special Correspondent

Banned drugs worth Rs. 120 crore seized from them in 2004

HYDERABAD: A court here delivered a rare judgement in awarding optimum punishment of twenty years’ imprisonment to five persons held under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Those sentenced were Mohan Mankani of Mumbai, K.S.V. Prasad, Ch. B.S.R. Prasad, Anil Tyagi and N. Jaganmohan Rao. Dr. K.S.V. Prasad is a chemist and general manager of a pharmaceutical company named Limelight Drugs Private Limited at Bidar, while Mr. B.S.R. Prasad and Mr. Rao are its directors. Mr. Tyagi is a graduate in pharmacy from BITS, Pilani, and is the Managing Partner of Florence Laboratory at Jeedimetla. The Metropolitan Sessions Judge Samudrala Govinda Rajulu, who delivered the judgement, also imposed a fine ranging from Rs. five lakh to Rs. seven lakh to each of the accused. The five persons were arrested after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized a huge quantity of banned drugs valued at Rs. 120 crore from Limelight company at Bidar, Florence Lab at Jeedimetla, a star hotel in Secunderabad and other places in June 2004. The contraband was powdered at Bidar and converted into tablet form at Jeedimetla lab.