Ludhiana | Farmer, son arrested for cultivating opium

The arrested accused Harinderjit Singh of Andlu village, Ludhiana, his son Gurpreet Singh and his employee Munish Kumar of Purnia, Bihar, were cultivating opium when police conducted a raid and arrested them

The Ludhiana Rural police arrested a farmer along with his son and an employee for cultivating opium in his house and recovered 1,200 live poppy plants.

On March 26, the Ludhiana police had arrested a man, who had sown poppy plants on the roof of his bathroom to cultivate opium. (HT PHOTO)

The accused Harinderjit Singh of Andlu village, his son Gurpreet Singh and his employee Munish Kumar of Purnia, Bihar, were cultivating opium when police conducted a raid and arrested them.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP, Ludhiana rural) Ketan Patil Baliram said the police conducted the raid following a tip-off that the accused had prepared a seed bed at his old house and sown poppy plants.

A case under Sections 15, 16, 61 and 85 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act has been registered against the accused at Sadar police station of Raikot.

In yet another incident, the Koomkalan police arrested Bhaini Keema village resident Surjit Singh and recovered 3.7 kg live poppy plants from his possession on Sunday. The accused had sown the poppy plants in his house. A case under Sections 15, 18, 61 and 85 of NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at Koomkalan police station.

Poppy farming is banned in the state. On March 26, the Jodhan police arrested a man, who had sown poppy plants on the roof of his bathroom to cultivate opium. The police had recovered as many as 190 poppy plants from his roof.

180 gm heroin recovered by STF from 35-yr-old

Ludhiana The Special Task Force (STF) unit of district arrested an accused for drug peddling and recovered 180 gm heroin on Sunday night.

The accused Shivpal, 35, of Jaswant Nagar, Daresi, who is unemployed, said being a drug addict, he indulged in drug peddling two years ago to meet his need for drugs.

Inspector Harbans Singh, in-charge at STF Ludhiana, said, “ The accused was arrested near an old vegetable market following a tip-off,” adding that he was crossing the area riding a motorcycle when STF stopped him for checking and on frisking, the team found the contraband hidden in the motorcycle.

A case under Section 21 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been lodged against the accused at STF, Mohali.

The court on Monday remanded the accused to one-day STF custody for questioning.