An African national has been sent to jail for 10 years by a Delhi court for possessing 100 grammes of contraband and staying in India after expiry of his visa.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.10 lakh on convict Lekan Akins, a permanent resident of Nigeria, after holding him guilty under provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Foreigners Act.
"I am of the opinion that prosecution has proved its case that the accused was found in possession of 100 grammes of cocaine and he was apprehended while living in India after expiry of his visa," Special Judge Shail Jain said.
According to the police, Akins was arrested on a tip-off on January 29, 2011 from Shakti Nagar here and he was found in possession of 100 grammes of cocaine.
The police said they had received information that a foreigner was involved in the trade of drugs and on the basis of the tip-off, a raiding team was constituted and Akins was apprehended.
It also said that during the probe, it was found that the accused was staying in India after expiry of his visa.
During the trial, Akins claimed before the court that he was falsely implicated in the case and nothing was recovered from his possession.
The defence counsel also argued that Akins was arrested while he was riding a two-wheeler but police have failed to establish the ownership of the motorcycle.
The judge, however, convicted the accused saying, "I am of the opinion that establishing the ownership of motorcycle was neither required nor necessary in the present case as the contraband was not recovered from the motorcycle but from the person of accused and it is not the case of the accused that contraband was recovered from the motorcycle.
