Session S Judge A D Killare last week sentenced Ratan Verma Maskar to 10 years rigourous imprisonment after he was found carrying 20 gms of brown sugar.

Police arrested one person found carrying three kg of charas worth Rs 4.5 lakh at Bhandup on Sunday afternoon. Dhundun Bhudiraj Gupta (25) was trapped near Saibaba temple at Bhandup (W). The contraband was found concealed in a packet he was carrying, the police claimed.

Bounced cheque lands trader in jail

Additional Chief Metropolitian Magistrate K H Holambe-Patil today sentenced a builder to a year's imprisonment under the provisions of the Negotiable Instrument Acts.

The accused builder, Satyajit Dali, had issued two cheques of Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh to Kishanchand Gupta on July 21, 1997. However, the cheques were not honoured by the Citibank due to insufficient funds in Dali's account.

Dali, who is based at Alibag, had borrowed the amount from Gupta a resident of Napean Sea road and had promised toreturn the money soon.

Forex smuggler held

Customs officials on Sunday arrested a Jordanian national at Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport after he was found in possession of Rs 9.45 lakh in Indian currency. He was about to take a flight to Dubai.

Ayman Salah Eddin Mohammed Al Taslaq was intercepted after he cleared through the Immigration and Customs check counter and was about to board Emirates Airlines flight on Sunday evening. A search revealed that he was carrying the cash concealed in a compartment of his suitcase.

Investigations have revealed Taslaq had earlier made eight trips to the city and smuggled Indian currency between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 15 lakh out of the country no less than four times. He confessed to acting at the behest of a Pakistani national Ashraf Quadri, now staying in Dubai.

Taslaq further revealed that one Vasant Chedda of Jenish International provided him with the money in Mumbai. Chedda allegedly used Taslaq as a conduit so that he could avail of some customsduty clearance at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

The police are investigating into the antecedents of Chedda believed to be a garment exporter.