Bangalore cops arrest Iranian, an MBA graduate, for growing cannabis at home

Police on Tuesday arrested a 35-year-old Iranian from a villa near Bidadi, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, for allegedly growing cannabis hydroponically.

The accused, Javad Rostampour, came to Bengaluru in 2010 and did his MBA from a private college in Kalyan Nagar. About three years ago, he started using drugs and eventually began supplying them to his friends and other sources, according to reports.

Rostampour read several books on marijuana and did extensive online research on growing cannabis, and ways to grow and process it, the reports said.

About a year ago, when the police unearthed a drug racket in Bengaluru, Rostampour moved from Kamanahalli to Bidadi. During the lockdown, he found it difficult to source drugs and decided to grow his own marijuana.

He set up a hydroponic model to grow cannabis in his villa and ordered LED lights and chemicals to process the drug. Rostampour ordered 60 seeds from the dark web and planted the first seeds in his fish tank.

His friends helped him supply the hydro-ganja to customers and he grew a total of 130 plants, said Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch. A gram of the drug costs around ₹3,000- ₹4,000.

The Crime Branch recently caught two men in DJ Halli who were allegedly transporting drugs. They turned out to be Rostampour’s friends and they revealed the source of the drugs. Following this, the police raided the villa and arrested four alleged drug peddlers – including two Iranians overstaying student visas, Patil said.