India, Dec. 8 -- The Bombay High Court has acquitted a Nigerian national, Mathew Okako Okofor, 42, in an NDPS case after holding that investigating officers failed to follow the mandatory procedure for drawing samples of the alleged contraband. The order came more than eight years after his arrest in August 2017, during which he remained in custody for an offence carrying a maximum punishment of 10 years.

Okofor was arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Cell's Azad Maidan Unit during a routine patrol near Dongri Bridge at Wadi Bunder. According to the police, five Nigerian nationals were spotted standing on the bridge "suspiciously". While four fled, Okofor was detained. Officers claimed that a search of the rexine bag he was carrying yielded a...