Peddler growing ganja plants on lake bed arrested in Avadi

The accused M Manikandan (26) was arrested near his house in Vellanur based on a tip-off and ganja kept in sachets weighing 1.1 kg in total were seized from him. Police also noticed a plant in his bike’s bag and investigation revealed that it was ganja plant which he allegedly plucked from a lake bed in Kovilpadhagai area. Police rushed to the spot and were shocked to find ganja plants being grown in an organised manner. All the ganja plants were destroyed.

During interrogation, Manikandan, who is into ganja peddling, reportedly told police that he was struggling for money to buy ganja in bulk when he came to know that ganja plants are grown near the lake bed.

Police suspect that he himself could have planted those saplings to make ganja on his own. He was remanded in judicial custody on Thursday and further investigation is on whether he is part of a larger gang which is into ganja harvest.

In 2018, Royapettah police arrested 35-year-old Kamal after a photo of him posing in front of ganja plants at his house went viral. His friend Sasikumar (22) who posted the photo on social media was also arrested. Another man who claimed to have grown ganja plants on the terrace for medicinal purpose was also arrested in KK Nagar around the same time.

Meanwhile, MKB Nagar police arrested a man in possession of 11 kg ganja. The accused M Rakesh Kanna (21) was hiding the contraband in his house to distribute it to the peddlers. Flower Bazaar police too arrested three persons for peddling ganja and remanded them on Wednesday. The accused were identified as Dheena, Chinna and Gowtham.