The Shivamogga police arrested five medical students in the last two days on charges of cultivating and selling ganja. Among them, three were allegedly involved in in-house cultivation in a rented house in the city.
Vigihnaraj, 28, from Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu; Vinod Kumar, 27, from Idukki in Kerala, and Pandidorai, 27, from Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu had taken a house on rent at Shivaganga Layout near Subbaiah Medical College in the city, where they grew ganja.
The police raided the place and arrested them on Friday. The police seized 227 gm of dry ganja, 1.5 kg of fresh ganja, 10 gm of charas, ganja seeds, six table fans, two stabilisers, three LED lights, hookah pipes, pots, and ₹ 19,000 in cash from them.
In another case, the police arrested Abdul Khayyum, 25, of Vijayapura, and Arpitha, 23, of Kottur in Ballari district— also medical students — on June 22. They were living in a rented house at Hale Gurupura in the city. The police seized 466 gm of ganja and a few other banned items. The accused were selling ganja among the locals.
Superintendent of Police, Shivamogga, G.K. Mithun Kumar told journalists on Saturday that Vigijnaraj, Vinod Kumar, and Pandidorai had collected information about indoor cultivation of ganja from websites. They procured a tent, fans, LED lights, seeds, and other items necessary for the in-house cultivation from online platforms.
For the last three-and-a-half months, they cultivated ganja and sold dry ganja in small sachets locally and outside. “As the students are from other States, there are chances of distributing it to neighbouring States as well. We are gathering further information from them,” he said.
“For the first time, we have come across a case of sophisticated in-house cultivation of ganja in Shivamogga district. I appeal to the public to be vigilant about the activities of tenants and inform the police if they find their activities suspicious,” he said.
The Shivamogga Rural police have booked cases against the accused under the NDPS Act.
