JAMMU, April 19 -- A court in Udhampur has sentenced two inter-state drug peddlers from Punjab to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment each in a 2020 case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, police said on Sunday.

The convicts, Jaspreet Singh and Sandeep Singh, residents of Ludhiana, were also fined Rs.1 lakh each. In case of non-payment, they will face an additional six months of rigorous imprisonment.

The duo was arrested on September 9, 2020, after being found in possession of 175 kg of poppy straw in their vehicle on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway while returning from Kashmir, a police official said.

Following investigation and trial, the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Udhampur, convicted the...