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    "headline": "Punjab court convicts retired IAF officer, 80, and associate, 77, in 2008 cocaine money-laundering case",
    "dek": "Mohali court convicts retired IAF officer, 80, and associate, 77, for money laundering in 2008 cocaine case.",
    "prose": "Special Judge Hardip Singh of a Mohali court in Punjab convicted 80-year-old retired Indian Air Force junior warrant officer Dara Singh and his 77-year-old associate Gurdarshan Singh on September 3, 2025, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), sentencing each to three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹5,000. [^1]\n\nIn August 2008, the SAS Nagar police booked Dara Singh and Gurdarshan Singh for possessing 1.23 kg of cocaine worth ₹50 lakh at the time, and also seized two bank cheques worth ₹10 lakh that Dara Singh gave to Gurdarshan Singh to purchase the contraband. [^2]\n\nThe court ruled that the two bank cheques, being the outcome of dealings between the accused, are to be considered proceeds of crime, and discarded the defence's arguments. [^3]\n\nThe Enforcement Directorate booked Dara Singh and Gurdarshan Singh under the PMLA in October 2019 and filed a chargesheet against them in October 2022, classifying the drugs and the cheques as proceeds of crime. [^4]\n\nFollowing the verdict, the two accused, who were on bail, were remanded to judicial custody. [^5]\n\nThe case originated from an FIR registered on August 28, 2008, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following the seizure of 1.230 kilograms of cocaine from the accused. [^6]\n\nThe court imposed a fine of 5,000 rupees on each accused, Dara Singh and Gurdarshan Singh. [^7]",
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      "statement": "Special Judge Hardip Singh of a Mohali court in Punjab convicted 80-year-old retired Indian Air Force junior warrant officer Dara Singh and his 77-year-old associate Gurdarshan Singh on September 3, 2025, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), sentencing each to three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹5,000.",
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      "statement": "In August 2008, the SAS Nagar police booked Dara Singh and Gurdarshan Singh for possessing 1.23 kg of cocaine worth ₹50 lakh at the time, and also seized two bank cheques worth ₹10 lakh that Dara Singh gave to Gurdarshan Singh to purchase the contraband.",
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