A special court in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district has sentenced a 21-year-old man to 15 years of rigorous imprisonment for smuggling cannabis.
Special judge Vivek Kumar Tiwari convicted Mukesh Kumar Bharti under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on Tuesday evening, special public prosecutor A K Shrivastav said on Wednesday.
The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the accused, who will have to serve an additional two-year jail term if he fails to pay the fine, he added.
A native of Uttar Pradesh, Bharti was arrested in Saria area of Raigarh while transporting a quintal of cannabis in an SUV to his hometown from Odisha in February 2018, Shrivastav said.
A chargesheet was filed against the accused in the court in April 2018, he added.