A major break-through has been effected today in the drive against drug trafficking with the arrest of dismissed DSP Jagdish Singh @ Bhola, alongwith his four associates and synthetic drugs worth Rs.18 crores from a dhaba at Ghanaur, 12 kms short of Murthal on the GT Road near New Delhi.Disclosing this here today, Mr. HS Mann, SSP, Patiala said that Jagdish Bhola was the mastermind of the Rs.700 crores synthetic drug racket exposed by the Jalandhar Rural, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala districts and was on the run since March 3, 2013 when his Mohali residence was raided. The police was tracking Jagdish Bhola relentlessly and after months of patient follow-up and ground work, the notorious kingpin and mastermind was trapped by a police party of Patiala district, along with his four associates and two cars. He informed that on the disclosure of the arrested persons synthetic drugs worth Rs.18 crores in the international market have been recovered. He revealed that besides Jagdish Singh @ Bhola s/o Balshinder Singh @ Tikka r/o village Rai Ke Kalan, PS Sadar Bathinda, district Bathinda (last residing at H.Nos. 981 & 984, Phase 10, Mohali, Sarabjit Singh @ Saba s/o Sukhwant Singh r/o village Waryam Nangal, PS Kathu Nangal, district Amritsar Rural, Harpreet Singh @ Happy s/o Bhupinder Singh r/o Jhabal, PS Jhabal, district Tarn Taran , Baljinder Singh s/o Hardev Singh r/o village Pandori, PS Sadar Tarn Taran, district Tarn Taran and Ravinder Singh s/o Om Parkash r/o village Ghumad, PS Dhanaor, district Sonipat (Haryana) have been arrested.
The Police party has recovered 10 kg pseudoephedrine (precursor chemical)- worth Rs. 10 crores in the international market, 1.5 kgs ICE (M-amphetamine) - worth Rs.7.5 crores in the international market, 600 gms. Ephedrine (precursor chemical)- worth Rs.60 lakhs in the international market and Innova Car no. PB-02(T) BT 8540 and Hyundai Elantra Car No. HR-26AQ 2111 from them.Mr. Mann pointed out that Jagdish Singh @ Bhola was the mastermind of the Rs.700 crores synthetic drug racket exposed by the districts Jalandhar Rural, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala and was fully in touch with the Anoop Singh Kahlon module. As a result of Punjab Police operations against Bhola, as many as 8 FIRs have been registered against him and over 20 of his associates have been arrested by the police. He was the kingpin of an extensive drug network which was perting precursor chemicals from medicinal purposes to illegal factories manufacturing synthetic drugs like ICE and supplying the synthetic drugs to the international market in Europe, Canada and the United States.It may be mentioned here that Bhola was a former decorated wrestler who had won the Arjuna Award, Bharat Kesri and Rustam-i-Hind titles and was recruited in the police as a sportsman. After disclosure of his involvement in the nefarious drug trade, Bhola had been dismissed by the Punjab Police under Article 311.The District Police Chief has said that the arrest of Jagdish Bhola and his associates was a major break-through which would help the Punjab Police unravel end-to-end the network of synthetic drugs from their manufacture till their consumption in Europe and North America. The arrested persons were being brought to Patiala for production before Ilaqa Judicial Magistrate where police remand for their interrogation would be sought. Further investigations were ongoing, he added.