Mohali, Feb. 21 -- Convicting a 45-year-old man (Kulwant Singh) of Tarn Taran under Section 22 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, a Mohali court sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for possessing a commercial quantity of Alprazolam tablets. The court held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was in possession of 10,800 such tablets without any permit or licence. A police patrolling team near the Dera Bassi bus stand on November 23, 2022 noticed that Kulwant Singh, who was coming from Lalru side, tried to flee upon seeing them. He was stopped. As many as 1,080 strips of 0.5 mg tablets (totalling 10,800) were found in his bag. The accused failed to produce any permit or licence authorising possession of the tablets. A chemical examination of the tablets confirmed that the tablets contained Alprazolam, a psychotropic substance classified under the NDPS Act which is sold only after being prescribed by doctors for treatment of anxiety disorders and panic attacks. During trial, the defence argued that the accused had been implicated and that mandatory provisions were not complied with. The court, however, held that the prosecution witnesses corroborated each other on material aspects and that there was no evidence of tampering with the case property. The convict sought leniency, stating that he was the sole breadwinner and had aged parents and minor children dependent on him. The court stated that there was no ground to take a lenient view. "Traders of narcotics are not only enemies of the nation but they are destroyers of the human race," the court noted....