SHIMLA:
Shimla police, under newly appointed SSP Gaurav Singh, have launched an aggressive crackdown on chitta smugglers and busted a major inter-state drug network with the arrest of its kingpin, Vijay Bihari alias David, from Zirakpur in Punjab.
Police say David is a notorious drug trafficker who had been running a chitta supply network in Shimla and neighbouring districts for several years. Preliminary investigations reveal that he was supplying chitta to more than 70 peddlers operating across Shimla city, Theog, Rampur and Rohru. Police say the net will tighten around these peddlers in the coming days.
David is not new to crime. He was arrested in 2023 by Theog police with 180 grams of chitta. He also faces multiple cases under the NDPS Act in Ambala, Haryana, including one registered in 2022 at Ambala Cantt police station. In total, four criminal cases are already registered against him in different police stations.
Police officials said David’s arrest has opened new layers of a much larger drug syndicate, but the most critical question still remains unanswered — from where did David source the chitta? Investigators admit that the trail to the main suppliers and original sources is yet to be busted.
335 grams of chitta seized in five cases
Over the past few days, Shimla police registered multiple cases and recovered a total of 335 grams of chitta.
On February 8, Baluganj police recovered 30.700 grams of chitta from Rahul of Jubbal and Vishal Verma of Nangal Devi, Theog, who were travelling in an HRTC bus on the Shimla–Rohru route at ISBT.
On February 2, the Jatog police post team arrested Mohit Verma of Majyat, Amit Soni of Kandaghat, Rakesh Garg of Mamlig (Kandaghat) and Simran Chadha of New Tutu Power House, recovering 11 grams of chitta.
In another case on February 9, police arrested Prithviraj of Chirgaon and Manoj Sharma of Rampur with 12 grams of chitta. Prithviraj alone has seven criminal cases registered against him.
On February 7, Rampur police arrested Yugal Kishore of Nankhari and Naresh of Shanan with 9.26 grams of chitta.
The fifth case surfaced at Kumarsain police station, where Kuldeep of Rampur, Sonu of Dobhi village, and Deepak of Thanadhar were arrested with 11 grams of chitta.
WhatsApp calls led police to the kingpin
During investigations, police found that all accused were in contact with David Anthony through WhatsApp calls. This digital trail helped police identify and trap the main kingpin.
So far, 15 accused have been arrested in this inter-state network.
Police officials said that David’s custodial interrogation is expected to lead to more arrests and expose bigger players in the drug trade. However, officers admit that the origin of the chitta supply remains the biggest missing link.
“The network is bigger than what has surfaced so far. The source is still in the dark,” sources said, indicating that the investigation has only scratched the surface of a much deeper drug pipeline feeding Himachal Pradesh.
