New Delhi:
Boxer Vijender Singh's father has strongly denied Punjab Police allegations that his son used heroin, arguing that the 27-year-old would not have won an Olympic bronze medal if he had been into drug abuse.
"My son is not into drugs and he is innocent. The 2012 Olympics wasn't too long ago and he did well in it. He wouldn't have if he was into drugs," Mahipal Singh Beniwal told NDTV. The boxer too has repeatedly denied buying or using drugs. He had won his Olympic bronze in 2008; in the London Olympics last year he was knocked out in the quarter finals.
The Punjab Police alleged yesterday that Vijender bought heroin for personal consumption on 12 occasions from an alleged Canada-based NRI drug dealer and smuggler who was arrested in a massive drug bust last month. They have, however, said the boxer was not involved in drug dealing.
The police said it was Vijender's sparring partner Ram Singh who first bought heroin in December last year from the alleged drug dealer Anoop Singh Kahlon. Both boxers, they said, then went together to Kahlon's house near Chandigarh to buy drugs a number of times in January and February this year.
While Vijender has denied anything more than a casual acquaintance with Kahlon, police sources have said that the alleged dealer and Vijender knew each other well and had even exchanged SMS-es.
Vijender's phone call records, the sources said, show that he had been in touch with Kahlon since August last year and that the two had spoken to each other on phone about 80 times since. The London Olympics were held in July last year.
Vijender's name had cropped up in the drug haul case after a car registered in the name of his wife was found parked at the alleged dealer's home on March 7, when more than 26 kilograms of drugs, including heroin, worth Rs. 130 crore, was recovered.
The boxer was questioned by the Punjab Police at Panchkula in Haryana but he had refused to share his blood and hair samples. The police are expected to move court for permission to get those samples today.
15 persons, including two Canadian and one British citizen have been arrested in the case so far, and teh police are the hunt for 25 others. Yesterday, the police recovered 10 kg of ICE drug, popularly known as meth (a party drug), which was meant to be exported to UK, Canada and Holland, they said.
"My son is not into drugs and he is innocent. The 2012 Olympics wasn't too long ago and he did well in it. He wouldn't have if he was into drugs," Mahipal Singh Beniwal told NDTV. The boxer too has repeatedly denied buying or using drugs. He had won his Olympic bronze in 2008; in the London Olympics last year he was knocked out in the quarter finals.
The Punjab Police alleged yesterday that Vijender bought heroin for personal consumption on 12 occasions from an alleged Canada-based NRI drug dealer and smuggler who was arrested in a massive drug bust last month. They have, however, said the boxer was not involved in drug dealing.
The police said it was Vijender's sparring partner Ram Singh who first bought heroin in December last year from the alleged drug dealer Anoop Singh Kahlon. Both boxers, they said, then went together to Kahlon's house near Chandigarh to buy drugs a number of times in January and February this year.
While Vijender has denied anything more than a casual acquaintance with Kahlon, police sources have said that the alleged dealer and Vijender knew each other well and had even exchanged SMS-es.
Vijender's phone call records, the sources said, show that he had been in touch with Kahlon since August last year and that the two had spoken to each other on phone about 80 times since. The London Olympics were held in July last year.
Vijender's name had cropped up in the drug haul case after a car registered in the name of his wife was found parked at the alleged dealer's home on March 7, when more than 26 kilograms of drugs, including heroin, worth Rs. 130 crore, was recovered.
The boxer was questioned by the Punjab Police at Panchkula in Haryana but he had refused to share his blood and hair samples. The police are expected to move court for permission to get those samples today.
15 persons, including two Canadian and one British citizen have been arrested in the case so far, and teh police are the hunt for 25 others. Yesterday, the police recovered 10 kg of ICE drug, popularly known as meth (a party drug), which was meant to be exported to UK, Canada and Holland, they said.
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