Kingpin of interstate drug racket arrested in Himachal

Shimla, Sep 20 (PTI) A day after a drug peddler was arrested with over 460 grams of chitta near Kharapathar area here, the Shimla police on Friday arrested the Kingpin of the interstate drug racket based in Rohru area of Shimla.
     "Links of the accused Mudasir Ahmed Mochi, a resident of Bhatpura village in Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir arrested on Thursday were established with Shahi Mahatma alias Shashi Negi and the kingpin was arrested, SP Shimla Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI.
     Negi, who is an agent dealing in selling and purchasing of fruits, was also running a drug cartel in the Rohru area for the past two years and was under the police’s radar for the past six months, he added.
     "He is the main kingpin of an interstate drug racket spread in the states of Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir besides Himachal Pradesh,” the SP said.
     “Prevalent in Rohru and adjoining areas, a major supplier of drugs, Shashi used people as mules for transportation of drugs and was using multiple bank accounts for syphoning of money,” the SP revealed.
     There were five FIRs registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against nine persons who were part of the drug racket run by Negi, the police said.
     On Thursday, Mochi's vehicle was intercepted and stopped for checking by the team in the Kharapathar area and 466.38 grams of chitta was recovered from his possession after which he was arrested and investigations revealed his connection with Shashi.
     This year so far, the Shimla police have arrested 356 people in 180 NDPS cases out of which 86 were from outside the state. The highest number of outsiders arrested was from Punjab (42) and Nepal (20), the police said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)