MBA & engineering students held with hydroponic ganja worth Rs28.5 lakh in Sambhajinagar

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The crime branch of the city police on Tuesday morning arrested two college students and seized 285 grams of hydroponic ganja, valued at Rs28.5 lakh, from them near Baba Petrol Pump.The accused were identified as Om Ravindra Shinde (23), an MBA (finance) student and a resident of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colony in N-4, and Rajveer Charan Singh Birag (20), a first-year computer science engineering student residing near Hanuman Mandir in the N-4 area. The police said both belonged to well-off families.A digital weighing scale, a red bag, two smartphones and a motorcycle were also seized from the accused. The total value of the seized items, including the narcotic substance, is estimated to be Rs29.51 lakh.According to the crime branch, the duo were intercepted between Lokhandi Pool (iron bridge) and Baba Petrol Pump at 10.20am, following a tip-off. A plastic carry bag wrapped in brown adhesive tape was recovered from them. It contained eight small transparent zip-lock pouches filled with hydroponic ganja, weighing 285 grams, the police said.Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Ratnakar Navale said the seized narcotic was valued at nearly Rs10,000 per gram in the illegal market. "Hydroponic ganja is a high-potency variant of cannabis grown in controlled environments without soil," Navale said.City police commissioner Pravin Pawar said the preliminary probe revealed a startling trend. "Youths belonging to well-off families and studying in reputable colleges were sourcing this hydroponic ganja," Pawar said.Crime branch police inspector Gajanan Kalyankar said the accused were allegedly planning to sell the contraband to other youths. "The duo were in contact with a few others and intended to sell the hydroponic ganja in small quantities to the latter," Kalyankar said.An FIR was registered at Kranti Chowk police station under sections 8(C), 20(B) and 29 of the NDPS Act after sub-inspector Abhijit Chikhilikar of the crime branch filed a complaint. Police sub-inspector Kishor Tanpure is conducting a probe to trace the supply network and identify other people involved in the racket.