Vijender in drug peddling row

mangaloretoday.com/DHNS

Chandigarh, Mar 8, 2013:Ace boxer Vijender Singh, who made India proud by winning the first Olympic medal in boxing in 2008, is courting a major controversy after his name cropped up in an international drug peddling racket unearthed by Punjab Police.

The police recovered heroine worth Rs 130 crore in the international market from two accused on Thursday.

One of Vejinder’s friends and international boxer Ram Singh is also under the scanner in the case. Ram Singh has been detained and is being questioned at the police station for his alleged role in the drug racket. He faces arrest, said sources.

A car in the name of Vijender’s wife was found outside the residence of Canada-based NRI Anoop Singh Kahlon, the alleged kingpin of the racked who was nabbed on Thursday by the police following a raid at his apartment in Zirakpur in the Mohali district of Punjab.

Vijender, a recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, was in Mumbai on Friday as the developments unfolded.

He has categorically denied any involvement in the racket. The accused drug peddlers had “named” the boxers as their “clients,” reports suggest.

The Punjab Police may summon the Olympian for questioning in the case. So far, the police said Vijender’s involvement was not apparent as no evidence has been found against him, but investigation was underway and none would be spared.

Vijender has denied any link with Anup Singh Kahlon. He said: “I have no links with Kahlon. I do not know him personally.”

Vijender said his friends dropped him at the airport in his wife’s car.

“I am unaware how the vehicle reached outside the flat raided by the police to recover drugs. I don’t know if my friends had used the vehicle in my absence,” he said.

The police said no drugs or incriminating evidence was found in Vijender’s wife car
On Thursday, the Punjab Police arrested Kahlon and his accomplice Rocky after a tip-off. More than 25 kg of heroin, estimated at Rs 130 crore in the international market, was seized from two separate places.

The police had claimed that Kahlon, who had been residing in Canada with his family since 1995 and worked initially as a truck driver, had a network of drug peddlers in the US, Canada and some European countries. According to sources, during interrogation the names of the two boxers Vijender Singh and Ram Singh cropped up.

Vijender is a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Haryana while Ram Singh is a Punjab Police officer. Ram Singh is training at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala ahead of an international championship.

Vijender’s cousin Jagbir Singh said Ram Singh used to drive Vijender’s car. SSP Fatehgarh Sahib Hardyal Singh Mann said they recovered Vijender’s car at some distance from the NRI’s house. He said the matter was being thoroughly investigated. “So far there is apparently no link of the accused with the boxer,” he said. The police have not ruled out questioning Vijender.