
- Former NSG commando Bajrang Singh was arrested for ganja smuggling in Rajasthan
- He smuggled ganja from Telangana and Odisha
- He fought in the 26/11 Mumbai anti-terror operation and served in the BSF and NSG
A former National Security Guard (NSG) commando has been found involved in a drug smuggling network. Bajrang Singh had participated in the 26/11 anti-terror operation in Mumbai. Rajasthan Police have now declared him the kingpin of a ganja smuggling racket. He was arrested on Wednesday night in Churu, the police said.
Singh was involved in smuggling ganja from Telangana and Odisha into Rajasthan, said Inspector General of Police Vikas Kumar, adding that the former commando was caught with 200 kg of the banned drug. A resident of Sikar district, Singh had been on the police radar due to his criminal activities and carried a reward of Rs 25,000.
The police said Singh was arrested after two months of tireless effort under 'Operation Gaanjaney,' carried out by the state's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF).
Bajrang's Entry Into Forces
Bajrang Singh had left studies after Class 10. But his six-foot-tall structure and fitness enabled him to pursue a career in the Border Security Force (BSF). During his service as a BSF constable, he served in Punjab, Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha, and West Bengal, protecting the country's borders against infiltrators and fighting Maoists.
His dedication to his country's security was noticed by his officers, and he was selected for the NSG, the country's elite counter-terrorism forces. He served as a commando for seven years. During his NSG service, he took part in the 26/11 anti-terror operation in 2008.
In 2021, Singh's political ambitions became evident, said police. He returned to his village in Rajasthan and became an active worker for a political party. He even fielded his wife in the village elections, but she lost.
Politics And Crime
Bajrang Singh is an example of how a commando once tasked with protecting the nation corrupted himself and became part of a nefarious conspiracy like drug trafficking.
It is during his stint in politics that he came in touch with people with criminal links. He came to know about the financial gains he could make from the ganja business from one such associate. Using his knowledge about Odisha and experience from his BSF days, he tapped into his old contacts in Odisha and Telangana and befriended some people involved in such crimes. Within a year, he climbed the ladder of success and became a kingpin of the ganja syndicate.
The Ganja Business
Singh did not deal in smaller consignments. He took up tasks that were fraught with huge risk: transporting quintals of ganja across state borders. Several cases were filed against him over the years, including one in his home district, Sikar, after several quintals of the banned drug were recovered from him.
In 2023, he was arrested near Hyderabad for smuggling two quintals of Ganja.
How Singh Was Caught
The ATS and ANTF teams had been after Singh for two months. They had been looking for links to the masterminds of the ganja business. Singh's name emerged only much later, despite his attempts at concealing his identity. But he kept evading arrest, using fake mobile IDs and hiding in remote villages.
The police teams zeroed in on him through his cook. A trusted house help, the cook was not involved in Singh's smuggling business. Sifting through his communication with his relatives, the technical intelligence gathering team found key clues pointing to Churu's Ratangarh. Further investigation helped them locate Singh's possible hideouts.
The police efforts paid off on Wednesday when they spotted Singh riding a motorcycle. The police did not arrest him immediately, realising that such a move against a former commando could be dangerous. They quietly followed him to his secret hideouts, and only after proper planning, they executed a surprise raid.
"This operation was a result of weeks of planning and intelligence sharing. The arrest of a hardened operative like Bajrang is a significant achievement in neutralising the terror-narcotics nexus in Rajasthan," said IGP Kumar.
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