A 26-year-old youth from Chembur has been arrested for growing marijuana (ganja) at a friend’s home. The Mumbai Crime Branch busted the youth’s friend’s house and seized 1 kilogram of the plant and materials used by the accused, reported Mumbai Mirror.
According to the police, Nikhil Satish Sharma along with his friends researched on the internet on how to grow the plant and bought all the essentials. The police are shocked to see the illegal growing of the plant using advanced technology.
Senior inspector Ashok Khot said, "This is probably for the first time that we have come across a case in which ganja was being cultivated at home with such advanced technology."
Another officer said that the group had obtained the equipment from China and the seeds from Australia and New Zealand. The seeds used are meant to be used only in the hydroponic system and the ganja the were able to produce was way stronger than the usual found in the illegal markets. The group had been selling the drug to college students and residents of Chembur.
The crime branch was able to bust the illegal growing and sale of the naturally grown ganja after they noticed a man roaming with a sack near Mahul village.
According to a report by Mid Day, the police officer Nitin Patil said, "On checking his bag we found one kilogram of ganja and 54 grams of Mephedrone, worth Rs 2.9 lakh in total. A case was registered against Sharma under sections of the Narcotic, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. He will be in police custody until December 17."
During interrogation, the accused revealed that he was growing the plant at a friend’s place using the hydroponic system, after which the police searched the said friend’s house in Mahul. The police seized three hydroponic tents, LED lights, a timer mechanism, a soil pH tester, hydroponic nutrients and various types of seeds, which in total accounted for Rs Six lakhs.
