An FIR was registered under sections 16/61/85 of the NDPS Act against him at the Jodhan police station. The Ludhiana rural police have arrested a man for allegedly practising opium farming in his house and confiscated 190 saplings from him. Police said that Mohammad Hoof, from village Gujjarwal of Jodhan, was arrested.
Ludhiana rural SSP Patil Ketan Baliram in a statement said the raid was conducted at Mohammad Hoofโs house in village Gujjarwal following a tip-off. Upon checking, it was found that he had sowed 190 saplings of opium on his terrace. The saplings were confiscated and he was arrested.
An FIR was registered under sections 16/61/85 of the NDPS Act against him at the Jodhan police station.
In the past few years, many politicians in Punjab have demanded the legalization of opium poppy farming which is currently banned.
During Chhapar Mela in 2018, former AAP MP and now a social activist, Dr Dharamvira Gandhi had almost landed in trouble after Ludhiana rural police filed a Daily Diary Report (DDR) against him after he, along with farmers, allegedly sowed poppy opium seeds as a mark of protest while demanding a ban lift on opium cultivation. However, FIR was not registered as it was a ‘symbolic protest’ and seeds were not sown in commercial quantities.
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