BENGALURU: She was quietly growing 15 ganja plants in an empty space near a raja kaluve (storm water drain) in Palekammanagar, Chikkajala. And she would sell the ganja to peddlers, drug addicts and students.
The 65-year-old woman from Andhra Pradesh, who has made Bengaluru her home decades ago, is now behind bars under the Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances Act for illegally growing ganja and selling it. Police have found 40kg of ganja with her worth around Rs 3 lakh.
Though she was into this illegal business for more than a year, her luck ran out recently when an informant tipped off the police.
The arrested has been identified as Anjanamma, a rag picker, who stays behind a private college’s boys hostel in Palekammanagar along with her husband. He is also a rag picker.
On October 14, around 11.30 am, Chikkajala police sub-inspector KM Praveen Kumar got an alert from an informant that a woman had grown ganja plants near her house and was into drug peddling. Kumar immediately alerted his seniors -- police inspector Muthuraju T and assistant commissioner of police (ACP) P T Subramanya. A team of officials including the Tahasildar rushed to the spot on confirming that Anjanamma had ganja in her possession.
On reaching her house, police found Anjanamma with some dry ganja, ready for their personal use. The police have seized the 15 ganja plants.
“During investigation, we found that Anjanamma and her husband were rag pickers who collected paper, books, plastic and metal objects and sold them to a scrap dealer in the evening. On returning home they would consume alcohol and then smoke ganja. The couple got into the habit of smoking ganja at a very young age,” said an investigating official.
Anjanamma confessed that she used to dry the ganja and sell it to her customers. She didn’t have a weighing machine or sachets to pack ganja. She never weighed the ganja. But depending on the money she was paid, she would measure the ganja in her hand and give it to the customer in a piece of paper, the official said.
“Ajanamma’s husband knew that she was growing ganja, but he was not aware that she was making money by selling it. So, we have not arrested him. Anjanamma has been arrested under section 20 (C) of NDPS Act and has been sent to jail,” the official added.