Doctor held for selling marijuana laced chocolates

 Telangana | Written by : IANS Updated: Mon, Jan 30, 2017, 06:16 PM

Doctors prescribing medicines online is not unusual but this doctor from the Old City chose to sell chocolates laced with the narcotic -- marijuana, only to land behind bars.


Rachakonda police on Saturday caught the doctor, Mohd. Shujath Ali Khan, at Pahadisharieff allegedly while he was proceeding to send chocolates containing marijuana to customers through courier service.


Some such chocolates and Rs. 12,520 were seized from him. Rachakonda Special Operations Team (SOT) Inspector G. Naveen Kumar said the accused had been procuring marijuana through some acquaintances in Dhoolpet. A resident of Kishanbagh, Khan completed MBBS course from a private medical college. He worked for some time in the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS). While working in neurology department there, he learnt about depressants and medicines related to relaxation.


In 2014, he quit the job. He would make powder of marijuana by grinding it and mixing it with cocoa powder, ghee, oil and some essence. He would purchase branded chocolates from the shops, melt them and the same is added to the mixture already prepared. Using these ingredients, he would make chocolates and pack them in specially made cups. “The doctor gave these chocolates different names like X, double X depending on the concentration of marijuana in it,” Mr. Naveen explained. The accused opened an account on Instagram and began posting photos of the chocolates he was making.


“He used it as a platform to advertise his product and began getting inquiries from different parts of the country,” the Inspector said. The doctor began selling the chocolates for prices ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,800 depending on the marijuana concentration in the chocolate.


His customers were from Goa, Delhi, Chennai and other cities. On a tip-off, the SOT sleuths caught him. He was handed over to Pahadisharieff police. A case under Narcotic ***** and Psychotropic Substances Act was registered against him.