Rajasthan cops bust inter-state smuggling racket; arrest former NSG commando with 200 kg gaanja

Rajasthan Police has arrested a former National Security Guard (NSG) commando, who had participated in the 26/11 anti-terror operation in Mumbai, for allegedly being the kingpin of a cannabis smuggling racket, a senior official said on Thursday.

Bajrang Singh was arrested on Wednesday night from Ratangarh in Churu. He was allegedly involved in smuggling gaanja from Telangana and Odisha into Rajasthan and was caught with 200 kg of the substance, said Inspector General of Police Vikas Kumar.

The ‘drug kingpin’ belonged to Rajasthan’s Sikar district and carried a bounty of Rs 25,000, Kumar said. He added that the state’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) successfully carried out ‘Operation Gaanjaney’, resulting in Singh’s arrest.

The two-month operation to track Singh succeeded after a crucial tip that he always travelled with a trusted Odiya cook. Technical intelligence on the cook’s relatives led the team to Singh’s hideout in Ratangarh, where the commando-turned-criminal was finally caught.

Police expect the arrest to curb the large-scale illegal drug trade from Odisha and Telangana into Rajasthan, Kumar said.

Singh had joined the NSG after finishing his Class 10. He was part of the commando team that responded to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, Kumar said.

After retiring in 2021 and facing a political defeat, he turned to organised drug trafficking, quickly becoming a major trafficker dealing in large quantities of gaanja, the official said.