Gujarat: Cannabis strain worth Rs 90 lakh seized from Hemp farmland in Amreli

“Acting on specific input, a team of Damnagar police station raided the farm in Suvagarh and found hemp cultivation going on in over 85,000 sq feet land in the village. We have seized 25,374 hemp plants weighing 1646.577 kilograms and valued at Rs 82,32,884 and we have also seized hemp strains weighing 120.480 kilograms worth Rs 7,22,880. The total worth of the seized narcotics product is Rs 89,55,765,” said Nirlipt Rai, superintendent of police, Amreli.

Hemp is a strain from the ‘Cannabis Sativa’ plant popularly known as marijuana and usually serves industrial purposes.

According to police, four accused, all part of a family, have been arrested in the matter. The main accused has been identified as 80-year-old Lakhman Goletar, the patriarch of a family in Suvagarh, under whose supervision the hemp was being grown. Other three accused are Odhav Goletar (52), Jagdish Goletar (42) and Naklang Goletar.

According to police sub-inspector Geeta Ahir of Damnagar police station, the hemp was being cultivated for the past 3-4 months.

“The plants appear to be 3-4 months old and we started the raid around Friday morning and ended on Saturday evening. The main accused Lakhman Goletar informed us that he was in touch with some Sadhu Babas and he distributes the hemp strains to them. He was also planning to sell the hemp strains in Gujarat. He has been arrested back in 1995 in a similar case,” said Ahir.

The accused have been arrested under 20A, 20B and 2C of the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.