Defendant found guilty in banned drugs case after fake death certificate revealed
BAHAWALPUR:
The Bahawalpur Drug Court has imposed a significant sentence in a case involving unregistered and banned drugs, imposing a cumulative fine of Rs40.5 million and seven years’ imprisonment on the accused, Muhammad Shafiq.
The verdict was announced by the president of the drug court, who declared the accused guilty after the trial.
According to the details of the case, Drug Inspector Liaquatpur had recovered unregistered and prohibited drugs from the possession of Muhammad Shafiq, son of Bashir Ahmad, a resident of Liaquatpur.
The case was registered as Court Case 56/DCB/2019 and was under trial in the Bahawalpur Drug Court.
During the proceedings, the accused allegedly tried to escape punishment by staging his own death. He presented a false death certificate to the court in an attempt to disrupt the trial.
As a result, legal proceedings were temporarily affected.
However, the fraud was later exposed when the accused was allegedly involved in a dispute in his locality.
The rival party informed the court that Shafiq was alive and had submitted fake documents.
After the discovery of the serious forgery, District and Sessions Judge and Chairman Drug Court Shazeb Saeed ordered registration of a separate case.
A case of forgery has since been registered against the accused at the Cantt Bahawalpur police station, and investigations are underway.
After examining the evidence in the banned drugs case, the court found Muhammad Shafiq guilty and sentenced him to seven years in prison along with a total fine of Rs 40.5 million.
Technical Member Dr Abdul Sattar Channar, Departmental Public Prosecutor Misbahuddin and Deputy Public Prosecutor Zeeshan Ahmad Jajja assisted the court during the trial.
Members of civil society and social circles welcomed the verdict, saying those who endanger human lives through illegal drugs do not deserve any leniency and strict legal action should be pursued against such violators.
