Big catch: ‘Drug kingpin’ with inter-state network arrested

In a significant catch, which cops claim will break the backbone of the inter-state drug trade, a team of the Solan police arrested an alleged drug kingpin, Vijay (37), last evening. A resident of Sirsa, Vijay was involved in supplying heroin to various districts of the state since 2021 through his vast inter-state network spread across Haryana and Punjab.

Solan SP Gaurav Singh said the accused will be produced in the court tomorrow for securing his remand and added that at least 100 youth have been in touch with Vijay to secure the contraband.

“The police zeroed in on him while tracing the backward linkages of a drug case wherein three youths were arrested. They had bought heroin from Vijay. Following the input, the Dharmpur police and the Cyber Cell, Solan, started monitoring and analysing his movement. The police, however, found that Vijay was changing his mobile phone, SIM and location since November 2024 to avoid arrest,” the SP said, adding that the arrest was another significant step in the crackdown on drug peddlers.

Vijay communicated with his network solely through WhatsApp and continuously changed his locations while using temporary Wi-Fi connections, making it difficult for the police to nab him.

He was, however, arrested on February 8 when the team of cyber cell traced his location to Sector 9 in the Kharar area of Punjab on February 7. During the investigation, it was found that the 37-year-old drug kingpin was operating a big inter-state drug network in states like Punjab and Haryana for long and was also supplying drugs to youths in Himachal Pradesh. During the investigation, it was found that Vijay catered to the drug supply in most districts of Himachal from Mohali and other areas of Punjab.

He has also invested in several properties through the illegal earning. The police are looking the details of the properties acquired by him.

Five cases of drug peddling were registered against him in Sirsa district, two in Fatehabad, one in Mohali and five in Shimla district.