Vijender took drugs, says Punjab Police

Chandigarh, March 31, 2013

International boxer Vijender Singh allegedly consumed heroin 15 times from December 2012 to February 2013 while his colleague Ram Singh took it five times, Punjab Police said Sunday as it announced seizure of huge quantities of lifestyle drugs used in parties.

Based on international prices for these drugs, police said the haul was valued at Rs.484 crore.

A police spokesman said Sunday that police in Fatehgarh Sahib district had recovered 10 kg of party drug 'Ice' (methamphetamine) and 230 kg of raw material (pseudophedrine) from which it is made.

About Vijender, he said: "In investigation, it has been established that boxers Ram Singh and Vijender Singh took heroin from (arrested Canada-based drug dealer) Anoop Singh Kahlon and Rocky for personal consumption between December 2012 and February 2013.

"As per investigation conducted so far, Vijender Singh consumed the drug about 12 times and Ram Singh about five times. However, they did not actively connive with the smugglers in their activities and nothing was recovered from them - as such both of them are not being arrested in the case at this stage," the spokesman said.

Ram Singh has been dismissed from the police department since it was established that he frequented the smugglers and procured heroin from them.

About the seizure, the spokesman said: "Both the manufactured Ice and the raw material were being exported abroad to Britain, Canada and Holland by this group of narcotic smugglers through Kulwant Singh, a British national, who was earlier arrested in this case from Delhi on March 19.

"As per Kahlon and Kulwant Singh, the international retail price of Ice is about Rs.5 crore per kg and of raw material about Rs.1 crore per kg," the spokesman said.

"The total wholesale price of these seizures in the international market is Rs.121 crore and the international retail price approximately Rs. 484 crore according to the figure given by Kahlon and Kulwant Singh," he added.

The latest seizures were made from Panchkula (near Chandigarh), Patiala and Sangrur.

The Fatehgarh Sahib police had earlier this month (March 7), recovered over 28 kg heroin, worth Rs.130 crore in the international market, from Kahlon's possession and had arrested him. The drug haul was made from Kahlon's flat in Zirakpur, near Chandigarh, and his car.

Police also found a SUV, registered in the name of Vijender Singh's wife Archana, parked outside Kahlon's flat. Kahlon reportedly told the police that Vijender and fellow boxer Ram Singh were his "clients".

The Punjab Police have already questioned Vijender, who is a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in the Haryana Police, in connection with the drugs racket. The boxer has, so far, refused to give his blood and hair samples to police.

"15 people including two Canadian and one British citizen have been arrested so far in this case, whereas more than 25 others of this network are presently absconding. Police parties have been dispatched to UP, Delhi and Mumbai apart from several places in Punjab for further investigation and to apprehend the absconders," the spokesman said.

Among those booked in the drugs haul case include a serving sub-inspector of police, Sarabjit Singh.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (counter intelligence) Ananya Gautam, assisted by Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh and the state special operation cell Amritsar, have been deputed to probe the international facets of the smuggling network and appropriately liaise with the British, Canadian and Dutch police," he added..IANS/// NRIpress.com

Police nab Canada-based NRI with 26 kg heroin

March 8, 2013

Chandigarh: Punjab Police Thursday said it had busted an international drugs pedaling nexus, with the arrest of a Canada-based Indian and his accomplice with 26 kg of expensive heroin in the state's Fatehgarh Sahib district.

Senior police officers said that the heroin was worth Rs.130 crore in the international market.

Fatehgarh Sahib district police chief H.S. Mann said that the police had busted a nexus between drug peddlers operating in India and western countries by nabbing its main kingpin, Anoop Singh Kahlon and his associate Kulwinder Singh.

He said that Kahlon was the main kingpin and they were used to smuggle the drugs to the various countries of Europe and North America. The duo was nabbed following a tip-off.

Police also recovered Rs 8.94 lakh in cash, 9,045 Canadian Dollars, an Innova MUV and other foreign currency from Kahlon. The total currency was worth about Rs 13.86 lakh, he added.

Police also recovered some weapons from their possession.

Mann said that Kahlon has been residing in Canada along with his family since 1995. A truck driver there, Kahlon had made a strong network of drug peddling not only in US and Canada but in some European countries. He used to come to India frequently. .IANS/// NRIpress.com

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Boxer Vijender not involved in drug racket: Police

Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab), March 8, 2013:

Punjab Police Friday said boxer Vijender Singh was not involved in a drug smuggling racket.

However, police said that they found a car registered in Vijender's wife Archana's name near the alleged drug peddler's flat -- but no contraband was found in it.

Earlier late Thursday evening, Fatehgarh Sahib police had conducted raids at a flat in Zirakpur town in Mohali district and had recovered 26 kg heroin worth Rs.130 crore in the international market.

The flat belongs to NRI Anoop Singh Kahlon and is in Swastik Vihar area in Zirakpur, 10 km from state capital Chandigarh.

During the interrogation, Kahlon said pugilists Vijender Singh and Ram Singh were his clients and they used to visit him. However, police have refuted these allegations against the boxers.

"We recovered Vijender's car from near the NRI's house but it does not indicate his involvement in the drugs racket. We will call Vijender for questioning, if required," said Hardyal Singh Mann, senior superintendent of Fathegarh Sahib police.

Asian Games gold medallist and Olympics bronze medallist Vijender has denied the allegations.

"It is rubbish. I do not know this drug peddler. I am in Mumbai for work. My friends had dropped me at the airport in my wife's car. I do not know how it reached the Zirakpur flat. Nothing has been recovered from the car," Vijender said.

Kahlon, a Canada-based NRI who works as a truck driver, and Kulwinder Singh alias Rocky, of Nawanshahar Badala village in Mohali district, were arrested from Zirakpur by Fatehgarh Sahib district police late Thursday. Both the accused were presented in a local court Friday and were sent to four days' police remand.

While Vijender is a deputy superintendent of police in Haryana, Ram Singh - a Punjab police officer - is training at NIS in Patiala, ahead of an international championship.

Fatehgarh Sahib is 45 km from Chandigarh............IANS/// NRIpress.com

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Chandigarh, March 8: 

On March 7, 2013 , 26 Kgs of Heroin had been recovered from accused Anoop Singh Kahlon r/o Zirakpur.

Anoop Singh kahlon made certain disclosures concerning a few sportsmen, including boxers, Vijender Singh and Ram Singh, which are presently being examined.  Boxer Ram Singh was called by the Fatehgarh Sahib police to join investigation on March 8 but has not been arrested. Investigation is in progress and further details would be given on completion of investigation.

Vijender Singh Beniwal,27'

, also known as Vijender Singh or Vijender Beniwal) is an Indian Olympic boxer from Kaluwas, Bhiwani district in Haryana.

• He was educated in his village, after which he received a bachelor’s degree from a local college in Bhiwani.
• He practised boxing at the Bhiwani Boxing Club where coach Jagdish Singh recognised his talent and encouraged him to take to professional boxing. He was coached by the Indian Boxing Coach Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu.

Having won medals in different competitions at the national level, Vijender was picked to train and compete at several international level competitions such as the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics

• In 2006 Commonwealth Games. At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, he won the bronze medal after losing the semifinal bout against Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Artayev. At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, he defeated Carlos Góngora of Ecuador 9–4 in the quarterfinals which guaranteed him a bronze medal—the first ever Olympic medal for an Indian boxer.
• Vijender was given a number of awards, including the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award—India's highest sporting honour.
• In 2009, he participated at the World Amateur Boxing Championships where he won the bronze medal. In the same year, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) announced Vijender as the top-ranked boxer in its annual middleweight category list with 2800 points. The boxer has qualified to represent India at the London 2012 Olympic Games.