Akali leader who cheated drug lord

Violating underworld's code of honour, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Maninder Singh Bittu Aulukh reportedly had duped drug lord Jagdish Bhola of Rs 1.75 crore.

Violating underworld's code of honour, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Maninder Singh Bittu Aulukh reportedly had duped drug lord Jagdish Bhola of Rs 1.75 crore.

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The investigation of dismissed Punjab Police officer Bhola (now under arrest) and his international drug racket has led police to more than just drug raw material worth Rs 600 crore. Also uncovered is the value attached to word and trust in the underworld deals, where there are no written agreements.

Aulukh reportedly had breached this code by accepting Rs 1.75 crore as advance from Bhola but supplying him with inferior, diluted precursor chemical to prepare the drug m-amphetamine, also called ICE. Aulukh sourced the chemical from Jagjit Singh Chahal, who also is under arrest, say police.

When Bhola confronted Aulakh, the leader called a powerful Akali leader and forced the drug lord to leave his hotel in Amritsar, police have added. Upset over the swindle, Bhola allegedly started direct dealing with Chahal, who owns pharmaceutical companies. "The interrogation of Chahal and Aulukh has since led to a haul of more than 600-kilogram precursor chemicals," said senior superintendent of police Hardial Singh Mann, who is credited with busting the racket.

The disclosures by Chahal led police to seize ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and others precursor chemicals from his MBP Pharmaceuticals factory in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. "About 60% of the precursor chemical was converted into synthetic drug ICE for a profit of Rs 2 crore per kilogram, margin that is driving smugglers to switchover from traditional drugs," said the SSP.