Chandigarh:
The Punjab Police have confirmed that while they have found nothing so far to link boxer Vijender Singh to a major drug bust near Chandigarh, his wife's car has been recovered from outside the house of an alleged drug dealer who they have arrested. Vijender Singh has denied any links with the man arrested.
The police said this evening that the Olympic bronze medalist has not been summoned for questioning; his name, they said, had not come up yet in any of their investigations or interrogations. Vijender's friend and national level boxer Ram Singh is being questioned, but has not been detained. Ram Singh is a head constable in the Punjab Police.
Vijender Singh has told NDTV, "I meet so many people, I met this guy also through somebody...but I don't know him personally. I was in Mumbai. May be my friend took my car and parked it at Anup Singh's house. He may be using my name to find an escape route."
The arrest of the alleged drug dealer, a man named Anup Singh Kahlon, last weekend and his interrogation, led to the recovery of 26 kg of drugs, including heroin, at his home in Zirakpur near Chandigarh. The consignment was worth Rs. 130 crore. The police said Kahlon seemed to be part of an international ring of drug smugglers.
It was outside this house that Vijender's wife, Archana's car, was found, with the key still in it, the police said. They are trying to ascertain whether Ram Singh drove the car there, they said.
The interrogation of Anup Singh, who is reportedly an NRI from Canada, has also led to the arrest of two more people and two kg of heroin, chemicals to make drugs for rave parties and more than a crore rupees has been seized.
Vijender won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics becoming the first Indian pugilist to win an Olympic medal. He also won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games.