Maharashtra: 2 Germans nabbed for growing cannabis at home

In a startling development the Maharashtra Police swooped down on a private bungalow in Wai town in Satara district and arrested two German nationals found cultivating cannabis at a bungalowThe bungalow owned by a local citizen is situated in the quiet Yashwant Nagar area of Wai town a picturesque holidaycumfilm shooting destination with the twin hill stations of MahabaleshwarPanchgani towering over itSatara Superintendent of Police Ajaykumar Bansal said that following a tipoff about two foreigners living and moving around in a suspicious manner at the bungalow in Nandanvan Park a police party paid them a visit on TuesdayWhen they attempted to question the duo they gave furtive and contradictory replies after which the Wai police team decided to search the premisesThe police party was shocked to see large quantities of cannabis Ganja being grown surreptitiously inside in around halfadozen rooms on the roof and outside It was like a farmhouse for the illegal contraband Bansal told IANSThe police team informed Bansal and Deputy Superintendent of Police Dheeraj Patil who ordered their arrest and launched a fullscale investigationThe duo has been identified as Sergis Victor Manca 31 and Sebastian Stein Muller 25 who were produced before a local court and remanded to police custody till Februray 20A thorough search of the bungalow led to a consignment of around 29 kgs of homegrown readytosell Ganja worth around Rs 3 lakh packed in bags which has been seizedThe police also recovered sophisticated artificial lighting equipment LED lights laptops mobiles etc from the bungalow and at one point one of them attempted to flee the police clutches but was caughtWe were surprised to see Ganja was being cultivated in the entire premises using modern methods with which we are also not familiar We have called experts from Pune to assist us The duo lived and grew the cannabis there barely stepping out or interacting with outsiders Bansal addedInvestigations revealed that both Manca and Muller are historysheeters who were arrested in a drugs case by the Narcotics Control Bureau in Pernem Goa in 2017Later the Bombay High Court Goa bench enlarged them on bail with the condition that they could live in Satara only the officer saidThough the duo was living in the Nandanvan Park bungalow since over 18 months it is not clear where they spent the intervening period after arriving from Goa which is now being probed according to BansalAs per the high court orders their passports are deposited with the Goa Police and they cannot leave the country till the NCB case against them is pending We have requested Goa Police to provide us with their passportvisa details to help our probe Bansal saidPolice teams are also scanning the local bungalow owner to verify if he is involved in the racket the accomplices peddlers customers etc of Manca and Muller who were quietly conducting the illegal drug manufacturing in a residential area of the townTo a query Bansal ruled out the possibility of the sleepy town of Wai with a population of around 32000 allegedly emerging as a subcentre for illicit drugs business given its proximity to Mumbai Pune and other important citiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever