Viral selfie with ganja plants puts 2 Chennai men behind bars

CHENNAI: A green thumb can mean trouble if it’s the wrong thing you’re growing.

The city police arrested a man after a selfie that went viral on Facebook showed him growing cannabis plants (the buds and leaves of which yield ganja or marijuana) on his

terrace garden in Royapettah

. They also arrested a friend who had taken the picture.

A police team arrested Kamal, 35, of Neelam Basha Dargah Street, for growing the plants, and Sasikumar, 22, of VM Street, who took the picture and posted it online despite his friend warning him not to. “Sasikumar promised not to make the photographs public but went ahead and posted one on Facebook and tagged his friend too,” a police officer said. “The photo circulated widely and many social media users wanted to know where it had been taken.”

The

Royapettah police

, alerted about the post, nabbed Sasikumar. He who spilled the beans, and they caught Kamal. A magistrate on Sunday remanded the men in judicial custody.

The

Kancheepuram police

held a third individual in a separate case of cannabis cultivation. They arrested S Moorthy, 55, for growing the plants on an unused bylane along the Vazhakku Theertha Eswaran temple on Gandhi Road. Many politicians, including late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, visit the shrine, a Kancheepuram officer said.

Temple authorities the spot where he grew the plants as a dumping ground.

“He did not allow anyone near the plants,” the officer said. “Moorthy’s friend tipped us off after he refused to give him ganja.”

Police went found two ganja plants, each about 2ft high, at the spot. They arrested Moorthy from his house on Siddhi Vinayakar Street. Temple officials said he did odd jobs for them.