Vijender and I consumed small quantities of heroin: Ram Singh

Arjuna awardee Jagdish Bhola also named in drug case

Olympic medallist Vijender Singh appears to be heading for some trouble, with fellow boxer Ram Singh confessing before the Punjab Police that the duo had “experimented” with heroin towards the end of 2012.

The police on Thursday seized 26 kg of heroin valued at Rs 130 crore in the international market from two persons, identified as Anoop Singh Kahlon and Rocky.  
Ram Singh, who has been Vijender’s roommate at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala for several years, told the police that he had procured drugs from the two persons arrested in the case around six times till February.  Singh, however, clarified that neither he nor Vijender was habituated to drugs.

Meanwhile, Kahlon, a Canada-based NRI and former national level short putter, tried to commit suicide in police custody on Friday evening.

The alleged kingpin of an international drug racket slit his wrist with a wire. He was immediately rushed to hospital and discharged after treatment.  

The police are yet to summon Vijender. They are ascertaining the veracity of the charges against the ace boxer. As of now, there is no direct evidence to link Vijender with peddlers.

The police have so far made six arrests in the case and seized some chemical substances. 

According to sources, Ram Singh told the police that the duo had visited Kahlon’s Zirakpur residence on a few occasions since they started dabbling in heroin in December last year.

Singh also confessed to have made Vijender try heroin.

Vijender has trashed the allegations. “I completely deny the allegations. I do not know the person in question and I am not involved with him in any way. I may have met him but don’t know him personally or directly. I am more than willing to cooperate with the police and I have nothing to hide. My wife’s car being found at the scene is just a coincidence. The person in custody is possibly using my name to mislead the authorities and malign me.

My focus is and has always been my career,” he said.

Vijender came under the scanner after a car registered in the name of his wife was found outside Kahlon’s residence. Vijender is a recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and a deputy SP with the Haryana Police.

Another name that cropped up during the interrogations was that of wrestler Jagdish Bhola, a former police officer and Arjuna award recipient. Bhola is facing cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The Punjab Police have recovered 10 kg of narcotics, used mainly in rave parties, from his house in Mohali district.

The contraband was valued at over Rs 1 crore in the international market. The police said the drugs were supplied to rave parties in Mumbai and Himachal Pradesh.

Bhola was earlier deputed as a DSP in Punjab, but suspended in 2002 after his name figured in a drug racket. He was also stripped of the Arjuna award. “We got a tip-off that drugs have been kept at Jagdish’s house during the interrogation of an international drug smuggler. We conducted raids, but Jagdish managed to flee. He is wanted in many other cases related to drug smuggling,” said the senior superintendent of the Fatehgarh Sahib police, who led the raid.

However, the police managed to arrest two accomplices of Jagdish and recovered Rs 1 crore in cash, 20 kg of narcotic chemicals and 2 kg of heroin. They were identified as Manpreet Singh and Gabbar Singh.