The Gir Somnath Special Operations Group (SOG) late Tuesday arrested a man from Una tehsil for allegedly being in possession of 114 cannabis (ganja) plants, weighing 51 kg and worth Rs 2.55 lakh in the market. The police identified the man as Bijalbhai Bhimabhai Bambaniya (45), a resident of Elampur village in Una. A father of five, he worked as a farmer and indulged in witchcraft activities, the police added. Gir Somnath SP Manoharsinh Jadeja said, “The accused went to the Shivratri Mela at Junagadh around February-March, and there, some sadhu gave him the seeds (of ganja). Around one-and-a-half-months ago, he decided to sow the seeds along with his cotton plants for his consumption. The local police came to know about this and led us to him.” ".He used to frequently consume (ganja). He also used to distribute the same to the sadhus ke knew. Till now, we don’t have any evidence that he used to grow cannabis for commercial use,” he added. Jadeja said they are trying to find out if any network is involved in the matter and are also looking for the person who supplied the seeds to Bambaniya. Bambaniya has been booked under sections 8(c) (sale, purchase, and consumption of narcotic drugs), 20(b) (contravention involves commercial quantity), 22(b) (contravention involves commercial quantity) and 29 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
