Police raid Rajkot private varsity campus after reports of ‘marijuana cultivation’

“A forensic expert conducted tests on the leaves of the suspected plants, but they returned negative for marijuana. Therefore, a non-cognisable offence has been registered in this connection and samples of the plants have been sent to FSL for analysis,” Sajjansinh Parmar, deputy commissioner of police (zone-1) of Rajkot city police, said Friday.

The police said they suspected the uprooted plants were found littered in the hostel side for foreign students on the varsity campus. “Prima facie, the plants don’t seem to have been sown as part of a cultivation but appear more like the ones having grown randomly after their seeds were thrown haphazardly. We are investigating if the seeds could have been thrown by students of the varsity or some migrant labourers,” Parmar further said.

Meanwhile, the DCP trashed media reports of a field adjoining the university campus being set on fire to destroy a marijuana plantation. “Investigation has revealed that a farmer had set fire to parali (stubble) of wheat after harvest and there is no evidence at this stage suggesting the field was set afire to destroy marijuana,” Parmar said.