Drug trafficker's Rs 1.64-crore illegal assets seized in Theog

Continuing its extensive crackdown on assets acquired by illicit drug traffickers, the district police have seized assets worth Rs 1.64 crore belonging to a drug trafficker who was allegedly running an illicit drug trafficking network under the guise of a barber shop in Theog.

Addressing a press conference here, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) City Mehar Panwar said the action came after an individual, Sohan Lal alias Happy, was arrested with approximately 71 grams of opium following a police raid at his barber shop located on Hospital Road, Rahighat, Theog, on June 10, 2026. She said a case under Section 18 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, was registered against the accused and further investigation was initiated.

“Investigation revealed that the accused had been involved in the opium trade for a very long time and was running a network in Theog, Kotkhai, Rohru and adjoining areas of the district. Financial investigation revealed that the accused had acquired a residential land plot, a two-storey shop, vehicles and funds that he had kept in various bank and post office accounts, all amounting to Rs 1.64 crore,” she said.

The ASP also said the investigation revealed that he was the only earning member of his family and that his total assets did not match his income. Acting swiftly, the police team seized all the assets that he had allegedly acquired by utilising funds earned through drug trafficking. “Further investigation in the case is going on,” she said.

Panwar said that so far this year, the district police had seized assets worth over Rs 8 crore by conducting financial investigations in about 12 cases registered under the NDPS Act, which was more than the amount seized in previous years. She said no financial investigation had been conducted during 2024 and 2025.