Man, son arrested for cultivating, selling cannabis in Ooty

Udhagamandalam: A man and his son were arrested on Friday for cultivating cannabis plants and selling it in Ooty.

The arrested have been identified as Muni Saud, 60, and his son, Gokul Saud, 24, both from Nepal. They had been residing at Elk Hill in Ooty for the past 30 years and working as construction labourers and daily-wage agricultural workers.

A few days ago, Gokul Saud cleared some bushes near his home, after which police received a tip off that some plants growing in a specific area appeared unusual. A special team of police visited the scene to carry out an inspection. They subsequently found six cannabis plants being cultivated on the premises. The plants weighed approximately 19kg in total and were in a ready-to-harvest state.

During further interrogation, it was revealed that since the cultivation of cannabis is not considered a legal offence in Nepal, the duo had procured seeds from their home country and cultivated the plants in Ooty. They also claimed to be cultivating and selling the cannabis primarily because it is used as a medicinal remedy for stomach-related ailments.

Meanwhile, police said there were previous instances of allegations that the duo had grown cannabis at their residence. However, during earlier visits, police were unable to find the cannabis plants because of the heavily overgrown bushes.

As both arrested individuals are foreign nationals, they were produced before a court and sent to prison in Chennai.