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Vijender took heroin 12 times: Punjab Police
Tribune News Service/PTI

Chandigarh, Mar 31
In fresh trouble for international boxer and Olympic medallist Vijender Singh, Punjab Police today said he had consumed heroin 12 times after procuring it from alleged drug smugglers including NRI Anoop Singh Kahlon.

"As per investigation conducted so far, Vijender Singh consumed the drug about 12 times and Ram Singh (his sparring partner) about five times," a Punjab Police statement said here.

Kahlon alias Ruby, the alleged Canada-based drug dealer, was arrested by police on March 3 and 26 kg heroin worth Rs 130 crore were seized from his residence in Zirakpur on the outskirts of Chandigarh. The Punjab police spokesperson said, "It has been established that boxers Ram Singh and Vijender Singh took heroin from Kahlon and his aide Rocky for personal consumption between December 2012 and February 2013."

While Ram Singh alone procured heroin in December 2012, subsequently, both the boxers went together to Zirakpur for procuring the drug once in January and twice in February this year, the police said.

Vijender, who has denied any involvement in the drugs racket, was not immediately available for comments.

The police statement further said, “However, they (Vijender and Ram Singh) did not actively connive with the smugglers in their activities and nothing was recovered from them — as such, both of them are not being arrested in the case at this stage.”

The police had earlier seized 28.5 kg heroin, 61.3 kg pseudophedrine worth Rs 484 crore in the international market and Indian and foreign currency worth Rs 1.15 crore and 9000 dollars, respectively.

The police said it was initiating steps to take the hair sample of Vijender for testing.