In a new twist to the heroin haul case, boxer Ram Singh has admitted that he and olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh took drugs from dealer Anup Singh Kahlon, mistaking the contraband for food supplements.
Kahlon, a Canada-based NRI who works as a truck driver, was arrested with 26 kg of heroin worth ₹30 crore, on 3 March in a major drug bust in Zirakpur, Punjab. A car registered in the name of Vijender's wife Archana was found parked outside Khalon's house.
During interrogation, Khalon claimed that both Ram Singh and Vijender Singh were his regular clients. Ram Singh, a Punjab police head constable and a national-level boxer, was questioned by the Fatehgarh Sahib police on Saturday. He confessed that he and Vijender started taking small quantities of heroin on few occasions since December 2012, assuming it to be food supplements.
Ram Singh told television channels on Saturday, "Me and Vijender experimented with drugs thinking that they were food supplements. We did not know that we were taking drugs. We were told that we were consuming food supplement meant to increase strength and stamina," according to the Hindu.
"When we got to know that the substance we took was a drug and not food supplement, we stopped taking it. Vijender took it two-three times in January and February but he stopped after coming to know that it was a drug," he said.
A day after his confession, Ram Singh has been expelled from National Institute of Sports, Patiala.
Meanwhile, Vijender has denied any links with Khalon and stated that his name was being misused. He said that he did not know how is car was found near Khalon's house and suggested that Ram Singh might have used it. The police are likely to question Vijender soon.
Anup Singh Kahlon is an international drug peddler, who has a network of drug peddlers in USA, Canada and some European countries. He is believed to have to have spread his network in India in 2009. He has also been supplying drugs for some rave parties in Delhi.
So far, six people including wrestler Jagdish Bhola (kingpin of the racket) have been arrested in connection with the drug haul case, according to police sources.
