Punjab Police may approach court for Vijender's samples

Chandigarh - Unable to get international boxer and Olympian Vijender Singh‘s consent to give his blood and hair samples in a drugs haul case, the Punjab Police is likely to approach the court to get them, officials said Tuesday.

The Punjab Police are seeking legal opinion and are likely to take legal recourse to secure Vijender’s blood and hair samples to investigate his links to a drugs racket busted last week in Punjab.

“We are seeking legal opinion in the matter. We will approach the court if required,” a police officer investigating the matter told IANS.

Police are likely to call Vijender again for further questioning in the matter.

The boxer had Monday refused to give his blood and hair samples to investigators even as a Punjab Police team questioned him for nearly four hours in the seizure of a huge quantity of heroin in the state last week.

His refusal has led to all kinds of speculation about his role in the matter.

The Fatehgarh Sahib district police in Punjab had recovered 26 kg heroin, worth Rs.130 crore in the international market, from the possession of Canada-based drugs dealer Anoop Singh Kahlon and had arrested him last Thursday. The drug haul was made from Kahlon’s flat in Zirakpur, near Chandigarh and his car.

Police also found a SUV, registered in the name of Vijender’s wife Archana, parked outside Kahlon’s flat. Kahlon reportedly told the police that Vijender and fellow boxer Ram Singh were his “clients”.

Vijender, who is a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in the Haryana Police, was questioned by the Punjab Police team at a police establishment in Panchkula town, 20 km from here, in the presence of Haryana’s Superintendent of Police (Crime) Hardeep Singh Doon.

Though police have so far refrained from directly linking Vijender with the drugs haul, Ram Singh’s statements to police have seen his name figuring in the controversy.

“Vijender was in touch with some Mumbai celebrities, who were regular in rave parties and took drugs. Therefore, we also tried it. However, we did not pay anything to Kahlon for drugs,” Ram Singh said.

Ram Singh and Vijender are very close friends and they were roommates at National Institute of Sports (NIS) for nearly six years.

Vijender has denied any involvement in the drugs racket. He had earlier offered to undergo dope testing to prove himself.