Ludhiana | 32kg marijuana seized from grocer, kin, 3 held

A grocer, his son and son-in-law were arrested for peddling drugs, and 32kg marijuana was found in their possession on Friday.

The grocer, Sanjay Upadhyay, 57, of Hero Nagar, Sahnewal, is already convicted in a drug peddling case. His was peddling drugs through his son, Sonu Kumar, 28, and son-in-law Akhilesh Kumar, 34.

Special Task Force deputy superintendent of police (DSP, STF) Davinder Kumar said, “Sonu and Akhilesh were arrested were arrested from New Satguru Nagar, while they were waiting for customers. We recovered 2kg marijuana from their scooter, and later arrested Upadhyay with 30kg of the proscribed drug.”

‘Code Red’

The two accused were wearing red shirts when they were arrested. On being probed, they admitted that they wore red shirt or t-shirts while supplying drugs so that their customers could identify them.

“Upadhyay runs a grocery store and his son helps him at the shop. Akhilesh is a factory worker, but is on medical leave as he met with a mishap at his workplace, said inspector Harbans Singh, STF Ludhiana in-charge.

History sheeter

Upadhyay has been peddling drugs for the last eight years and is already facing trial in six cases of drug peddling. He has been convicted in one case, while the remaining are under trial.

A case under sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act has been lodged against the accused at STF Mohali. Officials are questioning the accused to learn the name of their supplier.