16 drug peddlers linked to Shahi Mahatma gang held in Himachal

Shimla: Sixteen drug peddlers linked to the infamous Shahi Mahatma gang in Himachal Pradesh have been arrested from multiple locations, police said on Thursday.

The arrested accused included Yashwant Singh, Pradeep Chauhan, Lalit Thakur, Aman Negi, Brij Mohan, Ravesh, Vijender Rawat, Prashant Rathor, Sahil Thakur, Hitesh Thakur, Harsh Dhanta, Sarthak Sood, Kunal Shadru, Jatin Thakur and Shreyas Mehta, all residents of Rohru sub-division in Shimla district, officials said.

The accused drug peddlers were working for Shahi Negi alias Shahi Mahatma, the kingpin of a drug racket operating mainly in the upper Shimla regions, including Rohru, Jubbal, Kotkhai and Chirgaon.

Confirming the arrests, Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said the police nabbed the drug peddlers based on a probe of the money trail and technical inputs, which helped identify the members of the organised drug racket.

Shahi Mahatma, a former apple trader-turned-drug kingpin, was arrested in September after one of his associates was held with 468 gm of 'chitta' (adulterated heroin) from the Khadapathar area in Shimla district.

Active in this field for the past three-four years, Mahatma had connections with drug dealers from Delhi, including Nigerian nationals, and Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Running his network in an organised manner, Mahatma used to add buyers to a WhatsApp group after verifying their PAN and Aadhaar cards.

Apart from the Mahatma gang, the police have also busted the Radhe gang and Ranjan syndicate which were actively involved in drug trade in the district.

According to the police, 62 drug peddlers associated with these three gangs have been arrested till now.