PESHAWAR: A special antinarcotics court has acquitted four siblings including two sisters arrested by the local police on charges of possessing huge quantity of drugs including heroin and methamphetamine (ice) at their residence.

The additional district and sessions judge, Shahid Mahmood, ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case against the four suspectsincluding Shah Saud,hisbrother Khalid and two sisters Aisha Noor and Fatima Gul as the evidence on record did not connect them with the commission of the offence.

The suspects were arrested in a special joint raid by Narcotics Eradication Team (NET) and personnel of Paharipura police station on August 9, 2021, on their residence situated at Corporation Colony, Dalazak Road.

The raiding team claimed of recovering three 1(ilograms of ice and five kilograms of heroin. It was alleged that the raiding team had found the four suspects engaged in making small packets of contrabands while sitting at the courtyard of their residence at the time of the raid.

The case was registered at Paharipura police station undersection 9-D and 11-C of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substance Act.

Advocate Shabbir Hussain Gigyani appeared for the petitioners and contended that his clients were implicated in a concocted case.

He argued that a police post was adjacent to the residence of the accused persons and there was also a watch tower there overlooking the house. He questioned how it was possible that the accused persons would be making packets of contraband at their courtyard, which was visible from the police post.

The counsel stated that in past the said police post was a residence, whose occupants were involved in some anti-social activities against which the presentaccused had also filed complaints.

He added that even some police officials were frequent visitors to that residence.

Later on, he stated that the police sealed that residence and then set up police post there.

The counsel pointed out the raiding team claimed that some elders of the area accompanied it while raiding the residence, but on record names of none of the elders were given.

He argued that it was mandatory under the law to associate some persons of the locality during a raid and not following the said provision amounted to an offence punishable up to three years imprisonment.

The counselstated thatnoelder of the locality was associated at the time of raid.