5 medical students held for ganja cultivation, peddling

Shivamogga (KTK): Five medical students have been arrested here on the charges of cultivating and peddling ‘ganja’ in two separate cases, police said on Sunday.

Among the arrested, three were involved in cultivation of cannabis 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.

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.

In another incident, police on Saturday picked up three people during a raid in a rented house in Shivaganga Layout here.

According to police, one of the accused from Tamil Nadu was growing ganja in a room by creating artificial sunlight inside a tent, using special bulbs. He 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.

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.