Man Found Cultivating Ganja In His Flat In Posh Manikonda Area  

Hyderabad: We have seen farmers of Vikarabad, Narsampet, Eturunagaram and other remote areas in Telangana clandestinely growing ganja amid a sprawl of paddy to feed the Mumbai drug circuit so far. Here's a peddler in the heart of the capital, who harvests the ganja crop in his two-bedroom flat to give addicts their high. And he does it with scientific precision under controlled temperatures to allow cannabis to flower from seed with video tips from an American friend.

The ingenious weed peddler, Syed Shahed Hussain, 33, is a former bank employee and operates from a flat at Friends Colony in Manikonda. His luck ran out when Special Task Force personnel raided the apartment and seized plants, but were awe-struck with facilities, including humidifiers and LED lights to provide a perfect ambience. Shahed was caught red-handed while selling ganja to customers at Golconda on Sunday night.

Shahed has a bachelor's degree in psychology and has been staying at a rented flat at YK Residency in Friends Colony, Manikonda, for the past three months. He lives with his family in the flat. Acting on a specific tip-off, the Task Force team kept vigil at Jeeshan Cafe near Banjari Darwaza on Aljapur Road of Golconda on Sunday evening and caught the 33-year-old weed peddler selling the drug.

When police raided his flat, they found 40 ganja plants neatly placed in flower pots in two rooms. "Shahed installed ACs in both rooms to maintain a conducive temperature. He also kept LED lights above the plants to maintain natural light-like situation and kept table fans in swing mode to give them sufficient air," said Task Force additional deputy commissioner of police (DCP) N. Koti Reddy .

Shahed, who himself an ganja addict since his teens, began peddling drug for the past few years. Police found that he would purchase ganja from suppliers in Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and Tandur areas for Rs3,500 a kilo and sell it to customers in Hyderabad for Rs16,000 a kilo.

In the process, Shahed hit upon the idea of growing narcotics at home to raise profit and contacted his US-based friend Garith Christopher. "Based on Garith's advice, Shahed went through videos online and learnt the art of ganja cultivation. He purchased necessary material locally and started cultivation on a trial basis," said Task Force sub-inspector G. Mallesh, who was part of the raid squad.

Shahed did not leave anything to chance and took all care about healthy growth of his prized saplings. From the flat, police seized sacks of soil, which Shahed procured from Agency areas in Visakhapatnam and Karnataka, known for marijuana cultivation.

Shahed moved into the flat three months ago to grow ganja on trial basis and would not allow outsiders to visit the house. He is in the custody of Golconda police and further investigation is on.