Solan police resort to financial probe to seize Rs 8 cr assets of drug smugglers
The Solan police have seized property worth Rs 8 crore of 28 persons and their accomplices involved in eight drug peddling cases by conducting financial investigation. The police have launched a campaign to curb this nefarious trade as Solan district figures among 272 districts across India that have been identified as severely affected by drug abuse.
The police seized 37 kg of high quality cannabis in one case while six cases of heroin smuggling where miscreants from Punjab and Haryana were involved were reported in 2024 and 2025, said SP, Solan, Gaurav Singh.
The Solan police conducted financial investigation into two recent cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and seized assets worth more than Rs 2.37 crore of 10 accused and their accomplices.
The police had recovered 1.310 kg of cannabis in April from three accused in one such case in the Gaura area of Kandaghat. A subsequent raid had led to the seizure of 520 grams of cannabis from the residential house of one of the accused. Prakash Thakur, who was the kingpin of the drug racket, was manufacturing cannabis at his house and supplying it to peddlers in Shimla and Sirmaur districts for a long time.
The accused and their accomplices had amassed assets worth crores of rupees, including luxury houses, luxury and commercial vehicles, JCB machines, fixed deposits, revealed the probe. “Prakash Thakur had acquired land, house and luxury vehicles in the names of his wife and son and relatives in the past six years using the proceeds of the crime. The police had seized assets owned by Prakash Thakur, Rajesh Pandey and Ravindra and their accomplices valued at Rs 2.09 crore,” said the SP.
In another case of Dharampur, Gaurav and Chetan were arrested with about 11 grams of heroin in March. They had acquired property worth Rs 28 lakh by supplying the contraband locally. “As many as 184 cases have been registered under the NDPS Act against drug traffickers and 393 accused have been arrested. The arrested persons included 130 key drug suppliers, who were arrested from New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra etc, and nine Nigerians, who were arrested from New Delhi,” said the SP.
The district police have also dismantled 57 large inter-state networks of heroin smuggling that were operational in the state.
Himachal Tribune