Shimla: In a major crackdown on the drug trade in Himachal Pradesh, Shimla Police has seized illegal assets worth nearly ₹1.13 crore linked to accused involved in chitta and opium smuggling.
Police officials said that while no such property seizure action had taken place in the last two years, the department has carried out its biggest operation within just the first three months of this year. The police made it clear that their action will no longer remain limited to drug recovery alone, but will now directly target properties created through illegal narcotics earnings.
According to Shimla Police, 134 cases have been registered under the NDPS Act so far this year, most of them involving intermediate and commercial quantities of narcotics. A total of 286 accused have been arrested in these cases.
To break the supply chain, police teams carried out operations in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, the India-Nepal border region and Kerala, leading to the arrest of 42 accused persons.
The biggest action was taken in a case registered at Kumarsain Police Station. On April 10, police arrested three Nepalese accused — Ain Bahadur, Chakra Bahadur and Mohan Shahi — with 9.028 kilograms of opium and ₹12 lakh in cash.
During the investigation of backward linkages, police also recovered 2.039 kilograms of opium from the dhaba of a woman accused, Laxmi, who runs Laxmi Tea Stall in Kandaghat.
Investigations revealed that the accused had been supplying opium for a long time to selected customers in Kandaghat, Narkanda and nearby areas.
A financial investigation found that accused Ain Bahadur had purchased vehicles including an Innova and an Urban Cruiser using drug money. Meanwhile, woman accused Laxmi had purchased a Royal Enfield motorcycle, and lakhs of rupees were found deposited in her bank accounts. Police have frozen assets worth nearly ₹53 lakh belonging to both accused.
Police also found that a cannabis smuggling case had earlier been registered against the woman accused at Kandaghat Police Station.
Similarly, in old cases registered at Kotkhai Police Station, assets worth nearly ₹60 lakh belonging to accused Aryan have also been seized.
According to police, Aryan was continuously involved in chitta trafficking and cases against him were registered in 2023 and 2025. Investigations revealed that despite having no legal source of income, nearly ₹48 lakh had been transacted through his bank accounts over two years. The accused had allegedly purchased a Scorpio vehicle and constructed a two-storey house using drug money.
Shimla SSP Gaurav Singh said on Wednesday that the campaign against drug traffickers will continue and strict action will keep being taken against properties created through illegal earnings.
