Five medicos held for cultivating, peddling Ganja

Shivamogga: Five medical students have been arrested on the charges of cultivating and peddling ‘ganja’ in two separate cases.

Among the arrested, three students from Tamil Nadu and Kerala were involved in cultivation of cannabis through hi-tech farming at a rented house, they said. Two people from Vijayapura, and Ballari were arrested on Friday and 466 gm of ganja and a few other banned items worth Rs 20,000 was seized from them.

According to police, one of the accused who was arrested from Tamil Nadu was growing ganja in a room by creating artificial sunlight inside a tent, using special bulbs. The other two accused were arrested when they had come to buy the contraband during a raid conducted by the police after being alerted.

Also read- Mangaluru Ganja Case: Doctor, Pharmacy Student Among 3 More Held

It came to light that all the five accused were doing their medical internship at a private medical college in Purale village near Shivamogga.

The police action came following a tip-off that the accused, who lived in a rented house at Hale Gurupura here, were selling ganja among the locals.

"Police received information that the accused was involved in the business for the last three and half months," GK Mithun Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Shivamogga told ANI.

The accused from Tamil Nadu is said to have collected details on ganja cultivation via the internet and had bought seeds online. The police seized 227 gm of dry ganja - worth about Rs 5,800, Rs 30,000 worth -1.53 kg of fresh ganja, 10 gm of charas, ganja seeds, cannabis oil, ganja powder, electronic weighing machine, exhaust fan, six table fans, two stabilisers, three LED lights, hookah pipes, pots, and Rs 19,000 in cash from them, PTI reports.

Police said, they have registered a case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and investigations are on to find whether they were distributing in their home state or towns as well.

"He was growing cannabis in pots by creating an artificial environment (spider farming) inside the house without being noticed by the landlord. He sold the cannabis to college students," said an official.

"Further investigation is underway to see if other people are also involved," he added.

Also read- Karnataka: Surgeon, Medical Officer Among 10 Arrested For Consuming, Peddling Ganja