Belagavi police have arrested Sharanappa Jeer, a 56-year-old farmer, for cultivating over 500 ganja plants concealed within his red gram crop in Dindawar village. The special narcotics vigilance cell of the Basavana Bagewadi police station conducted the raid, during which authorities seized 202.75 kg of cannabis valued at ₹1,01,37,500. Jeer had planted the red gram on the periphery of his farm while hiding the illicit plants in the center to evade detection.
A case has been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act following the discovery. Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi commended the investigative team, including officers Chandrakant Nandareddy and Gurushanth Dashyal, for the successful operation. The investigation is ongoing as authorities seek to determine the full extent of Jeer’s involvement and any potential networks connected to him.
This incident aligns with a broader trend of ganja cultivation and trafficking being uncovered across Karnataka. In October 2026, police in Vijayapura district, which includes Dindawar village, arrested a farmer in a similar operation. Additionally, in August 2025, Belagavi police seized 43 kg of cannabis and arrested six individuals linked to a drug racket that allegedly supplied narcotics to the district for four years. The alleged kingpin of that operation, Ismail alias Saddam Babu Sayad, reportedly procured cannabis from the Madhya Pradesh–Maharashtra border region and Odisha.
Further seizures have occurred in the region, including an incident in September 2025 where Raibag police in Belagavi seized approximately 441 kg of ganja valued at around ₹22 lakh from a farm, resulting in the arrest of a farmer. The practice of disguising illicit plants within legitimate crops such as red gram, sugarcane, sorghum, and cotton has been a recurring method used by farmers to avoid suspicion. Similar cases include the arrest of a 65-year-old farmer in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, in May 2026 for growing ganja in sugarcane fields, and the apprehension of a farmer in Bidar district, Karnataka, in October 2023 for cultivating marijuana alongside sorghum and cotton.
