A 45-year-old man who was cultivating opium poppy in an agriculture field at Lemur village in Kandukur mandal of Rangareddy district was arrested by Rachakonda police here on Thursday.
Police seized 390 kg of opium poppy straws in 20 bags and a mobile phone, all worth ₹ 20 lakh, from the possession of Dandupally Chennakeshavaulu, a native of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh. His partner 43-year-old Dhimmir Venkataramana from Chittoor district, was arrested by the Special Enforcement Bureau of Madanapalle police on March 16.
The accused cultivated the narcotic drug yielding plant and sold it to their customers in and around Bengaluru, police said.
“They were having good contacts with the people in Bengaluru who are willing to purchase the opium poppy straw for higher rates,” Commissioner of Police Mahesh Bhagwat said.
He said that the duo took a land parcel on lease and cultivated the banned crop for the past few months.
Acting on tip-off, Kandukur police conducted raids at Lemur village and found opium poppy straw and arrested Chennakeshavaulu.
