Named in drug bust,Vijender fights back

The Olympian’s name has come up during investigations following the arrest of an alleged NRI drug smuggler Anoop Singh Kahlon and another man named Kulwinder Singh Rocky with 26 kg of heroin worth Rs 130 crore Thursday.

Police also questioned Ram Singh,another boxer and Vijender’s sparring partner who is now a havildar in the Punjab police,in connection with the case. Ram Singh is considered to be an old friend of Kahlon and was allegedly seen with him frequently.

During interrogation,the two suspects are believed to have claimed that they had close links with Vijender and Ram Singh and also allegedly supplied them drugs. Vijender’s car,registered in his wife’s name,was found parked outside one of the houses allegedly being used by the smugglers,police sources said.

Vijender had reportedly lent his car to Ram Singh,who has now told the police that he had in turn given the car to Kahlon,sources said.

Both Vijender and Ram Singh were training at the National Institute of Sports,Patiala,ahead of an international championship. Ram Singh has not been arrested but has joined investigations in the case,SSP Fatehgarh Sahib Hardayal Singh Mann told reporters.

Reached for his comment,Vijender said he was shocked to hear about the incident.

“Yes,police officials contacted me and I told them the truth. I was in Mumbai since early this week for an event and my car was in Patiala. Ram Singh uses my car when I am not there and he told me that he gave a lift to some fellow boxers from NIS. The car is in my wife’s name and she too was surprised to hear about it this morning. I do not know any Anoop Singh and as a police officer myself,I know my responsibilities,” he said.

Mann added that Vijender’s role in the case is yet to be examined and if needed he would be called for questioning. Sources in the Punjab police said that other than the car recovered from outside the alleged smugglers’ house,some other cars belonging to Vijender were also allegedly being used by Kahlon to ferry drugs.

Whether Vijender knew about the suspected use of his cars is still not clear. “All this is a matter of further investigation. We will be getting more details in the coming days,” said Mann.

Based on the information given by Kahlon,police arrested Manpreet Gill and his brother-in-law Gabbar Singh from Mandi Gobindgarh Friday evening. The SSP said Rs 1 crore cash,2 kg of heroin and 20 kg of chemical used to process drugs were also allegedly recovered from the car they were traveling in.

Kahlon is a former shot-put athlete and was also working with the Punjab police in the early 1990s before moving to Canada in 1995 where he was working as a truck driver. Gill is a Canadian citizen and the two apparently met there.

Gill was allegedly involved in smuggling synthetic chemicals in Canada. He moved with his family to Ludhiana in 2007 and was allegedly involved in hawala transactions as well,police said.

Mann said police nabbed Kahlon and allegedly recovered 540 gm of heroin from his possession after special checks in Fatehgarh on March 3. Two driving licences and an Innova car,besides Canadian and American dollars were also recovered.

The SSP said that Rocky was driving the car and police also recovered four illegal cartridges of .32 bore pistol from his pocket along with a gunny bag full of shells of capsules used for filling drugs.

Sparring partner,friend who faded away from ring

After winning a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics,one of the associates Vijender Singh thanked profusely for standing by him was Ram Singh,a super-heavyweight category boxer who was not just his one-time roommate at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala but also his best friend and a sparring partner.

Helping Vijender win that groundbreaking medal,however,was as close as what Ram Singh,30,who hails from Usmanpur village in Patiala,ever got to achieving big in boxing.

Ram Singh’s first medal was a silver at the junior nationals in 2002. Never a precocious talent,he accumulated a few medals along the way though,including a bronze medal in the Czech Republic Grand Prix in 2007,gold in the A K Misra Boxing Championship in 2009 and another bronze in an international meet in Kazakhstan in 2009.

The rise of Paramjit Samota,who won the super-heavyweight gold in the Commonwealth Games and a silver in Asiad 2010,put Ram Singh in the shade.

The soft-spoken Ram Singh,who is a Punjab police havildar,continued to be a part of national camps,often,according to sources,due to Vijender’s influence.

His last competitive appearance was the 60th All India Policemen Boxing Championship in Delhi last year where he finished third.