Bengaluru, Dec 14: A management student and two of his aides who were growing ganja plants inside their flat have been arrested by Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths. Preliminary investigation revealed they had sourced seeds from the Netherlands through darknet.
The arrested are Amatya Jyothikumar Rishi, 23, from Patna, Bihar, Aditya Nandakumar Rao, 21, of Hosakerehalli and Mangal Mukya, 30, of Darbhanga in Bihar. Rishi is pursuing his graduation in management studies from a private university. Police recovered two kg ganja worth Rs 20 lakh from the trio.
Police commissioner Bhaskar Rao said the three had purchased the ganja seeds from the Netherlands. Rishi grew saplings with the help of LED bulbs, police said. “He was growing the saplings inside a room and was using LED bulbs as an alternative to sunlight,” police said.
According to cops, Rishi is an expert in dark web. “We have seized his laptop. He confessed that he visited dark websites using Tor browser. Only experts can handle such browsers and websites. We will know more about Rishi’s network after checking his laptop,” an officer said.
“Rishi claims they started growing the seeds since mid- 2018. We shall seek expert opinion on the saplings,” another officer added.
Rishi told police that he received the seeds through courier. “But how did he learn to grow ganja indoors,” wondered police. According to a rough estimate, Rishi paid nearly Rs 3 lakh to purchase the seeds.
Following Rishi’s arrest, parents of students from his college called the CCB control room seeking more details.
“They wanted to know if Rishi had influenced his classmates and others to smoke ganja. Some asked if more students were involved in the racket. They were worried as they had discovered that their children had started smoking. We told them that investigation is in the preliminary stage and we will be able to respond only after taking Rishi’s statement,” a senior police officer said.
Comments
Add new comment