PANAJI
The Additional Sessions Court-II, Mapusa, on Friday ordered framing of charges against a 40-year-old woman accused of possessing commercial quantity of MDMA, while discharging the African co-accused who was alleged to have abetted the crime from inside Colvale Central Jail.
The Crime Branch had chargesheeted Asha Kumar Lakra, originally from Chhattisgarh and Ugwuelihe Sunday Ugwouke under provisions of the NDPS Act.
According to the prosecution, acting on specific information, the Crime Branch team raided a rented room at Agniwaddo, Guirim, on September 19, 2024 during which Lakra was allegedly found in possession of 268 tablets suspected to be MDMA, weighing 118.537 gms and valued at around Rs 6.7 lakh. The drugs, along with a mobile phone and documents, were seized under panchanama. Forensic examination later confirmed the substance to be MDMA.
The prosecution further submitted that call records showed Lakra was in contact with Ugwouke, who is lodged at Colvale Jail in another NDPS case, and that he was purportedly assisting her in supplying the psychotropic substance. A mobile phone allegedly used inside the jail was also attached in a surprise raid. The prosecution also argued that Ugwouke who is a habitual offender in narcotic substance dealings, was abetting the woman accused of committing the offence through telephonic communication.
During the hearing for the framing of the charge, Counsel for Lakra argued that discrepancies regarding the timing of the raid and the absence of her signature on the panchanama were issues to be tested during the trial.
With respect to Ugwouke, it was contended that there was no evidence proving the phone recovered in jail belonged to him, and that any statements linking him to the case would be inadmissible in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which held that confessions recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act have no evidentiary value.
After hearing both sides, the Court held that material on record was sufficient to frame charges against Lakra, however, in the absence of any incriminating evidence against Ugwouke, he was discharged from the case.
