Punjab: PMLA court sentences drug dealer Raja Kandola to 9-year jail in narcotics case

A special PMLA court here convicted on Tuesday Punjab-based drug dealer Ranjit Singh Kandola and his wife on money-laundering charges in a narcotics case, officials said.

Kandola, also known as Raja Kandola, has been sentenced to nine years in prison while his wife Rajwant Kaur was ordered to undergo three years in jail under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on the two convicts, the officials said.

The 2012 money laundering case stems from half-a-dozen Punjab Police complaints filed against Raja Kandola and others. This includes a case in which the state police seized narcotic drugs worth Rs 200 crore in June 2012 from a syndicate, which was alleged to be run by Kandola and his associates.

Kandola was acquitted in the narcotics case registered by the police.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier alleged that Kandola was running a racket to manufacture ‘Ice’ (a party drug) from methamphetamine and ephedrine, and was getting supplies of heroin from across the Pakistan border as part of his illegal syndicate business.

The police investigation, which was relied upon by the agency to frame its money-laundering case, found that Kandola was allegedly supplying drugs at various locations in Punjab, Delhi and other big cities of the country.

The ED had attached assets worth Rs 7.53 crore in this case.