Four persons who allegedly cultivated, harvested and smuggled ganja worth Rs 50 lakh over time in an absentee businessman's estate, were arrested today by forest department officials and handed over to police.
The officials said they came to know about ganja plants being cultivated in a Karnataka businessman's estate when they were dousing forest fires in some areas.
They said the security guard at a small farm had raised the crop in the estate, taking advantage of the absentee owner.
The officials said they first noticed three persons hiding behind a bush when they were dousing fires. The trio tried to escape, but were arrested and dry ganja plants seized from them.
On being questioned, they said the crop had been raised by the security guard, following which his house was raided by police and more quantity of ganja plants seized from there.
Forest ranger Saravanan told reporters initial estimates revealed they had smuggled ganja worth Rs 50 lakh.
