Nagpur: Caretaker held for growing cannabis plants on chartered accountant's farm, nine plants seized

Nagpur, October 31: Nagpur Rural Police have busted an alleged illegal cannabis cultivation operation at a farm in Gangaji Dareli village, which falls under the Kalmeshwar police station area. The farm's caretaker has been arrested. Police took the action by raiding the farm.

During the raid, police seized nine cannabis plants with a total weight of 1.358 kg. A chilam and a mobile phone were also recovered along with the plants. Police have put the total value of the seized items at Rs 40,210.

The action began with a tip-off. The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Local Crime Branch (LCB) received information that cannabis plants were being grown on the farm of Nitesh Sakhlecha, a chartered accountant (CA) from Nagpur. Acting on this, a police team raided the farm at Gangaji Dareli and recovered nine cannabis plants. The plants have been valued at about Rs 27,120.

Police arrested the caretaker, Babloo Budh Sahu (40), from the spot. He is said to have been living on the farm for the past two years. A case has been registered against him under Sections 8(c) and 20(a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Investigators are now trying to establish the circumstances in which the cannabis was being cultivated. They are also examining whether it has any link to a larger drug trafficking network.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Harsh A. Poddar and Additional Superintendent of Police Anil Mhaske. The team was led by Local Crime Branch Police Inspector Ankush Mane. Assistant Police Inspector Purushottam Mahekar and other staff were also present.

Further investigation into the case is continuing.