Kharar man held for cultivating opium at his residence

Mohali, April 16

The police have arrested a resident of Madan Heri, Kharar, Kulwinder Singh, for growing opium plants in his kitchen garden.

Police officials said they have recovered 92 plants from his possession, adding that a case under the NDPS Act has been registered against Kulwinder at the Sadar Kharar police station.

Kharar DSP Karan Singh Sandhu said, “169 bulbs and plants weighing 5.150 kg have been seized. We received a tip that the suspect, an agriculturist, is cultivating opium plants in the backyard of his house. After questioning him, we got to know that it was his second crop, and he used to cultivate it for his consumption.”

The police said the suspect was sent to two-day police custody, and they are investigating the source of the opium.

Cultivation legal in 3 states with curbs

Opium cultivation is legal in only three states — UP, MP and Rajasthan — and that too, only in notified tracts by the GOI. Himachal Pradesh is mulling to issue a licence for cultivation. The quantity that may be grown depends on the area that the tract licenses. A senior official of the Punjab Police said, “Farmer’s income, revenue, synthetic drug dependence reduction, and by-products in the pharmaceutical industry such as morphine and codeine are some of the reasons licences are issued for opium cultivation.”