In a major crackdown on illicit drug trafficking networks, the district police here have arrested a key interstate drug supplier from Punjab, dismantling another supply chain-based drug trafficking racket operating in the district.
The accused has been identified as Shiv Charan Mahto, a resident of Jagatpura in SAS Nagar, Punjab.
Providing information, Shimla Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gaurav Singh said, on June 21, one Sahil Verma was arrested with 9-gm ‘chitta’ (heroin) from the Fagu area, after which a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, was registered against the accused and an investigation was initiated.
He said, during the investigation, a detailed analysis of technical evidence, including WhatsApp and call records, and other digital evidence, was conducted, after which the police found that Verma had procured the contraband from Mahto.
“Acting swiftly, a police team was dispatched to (SAS Nagar) and Mahto was arrested from his residence. The police found that the accused had been supplying ‘chitta’ to approximately 50 individuals in the upper Shimla region on a regular basis. The accused is under police remand, and further investigation in the case is underway,” he said.
