Punjab resident among 9 held with 42.4g heroin

In a significant crackdown on drug trafficking, the police arrested nine persons, including a Punjab resident, and seized 42.4 gm of heroin (chitta) along with Rs 50,000 in two separate incidents in Himachal Pradesh.

In the first incident, a police team acting on a tip-off raided a house in Kudidhar village under Rampur Sub-Division of Shimla district and arrested five individuals. The accused have been identified as Rohit (40), a resident of Bhadurpur, Hoshiarpur district in Punjab; Vijay Kumar (32), resident of Banol village, Mandi district and Ajay Kumar (34), Rohan (28) and Piyush (18) — all from Pandoh, Mandi.

Confirming the arrests, Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Rampur Bushahr, Naresh Sharma, said 42.4 gm heroin and Rs 50,000 were seized from the possession of the accused. A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered at Rampur Police Station and further investigation is ongoing.

In a separate operation, four persons were arrested from a rented room in Hayun village in the Summerhill area of Shimla with 11.52 gm heroin. The arrests were made following a tip-off about youth in possession of drugs.

The accused have been identified as Rajat Sharma (21) of Ghurkhadi village, Mandi (currently residing in Hayun, Shimla); Smriti Thakur, alias Ishu, (23) of Majhroi village in Theog subdivision, Shimla; Vinay Chauhan (32) of Bholad village in Jubbal and Abhishek Verma (26) of Devnagar, Shimla.

The police recovered the contraband during a raid at their rented accommodation and all four were immediately taken into custody. Cases under the NDPS Act have been registered and investigations are underway to trace the supply chain. Authorities have reiterated their commitment to intensifying action against drug networks operating in the region.