Former Indian wrestler Jagdish Bhola convicted over multi-crore drug racket

A former Indian wrestler at the international level and an Arjuna Awardee has been convicted by the CBI in a multi-crore high profile drug racket. Jagdhish Bhola, the Indian wrestler had first been first busted by the Punjab police in 2013. According to an IANS report, Bhola was the leader and kingpin of a massive network of drug smugglers mainly responsible for diverting precursor chemicals for medicinal purposes to illegal factories in Himachal Pradesh. These goods were then used to manufacture synthetic drugs which then catered to the international market and was exported to Europe, Canada and the United States. In November 2013, the wrestler was arrested on allegations of being in connection with a Rs 700-crore drugs racket. Further investigation uncovered his participation in a bigger case- Rs 6,000-crore drugs racket. At the time of his arrest, Bhola had reportedly been serving as Punjab's Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). He was dismissed once his involvement in the case in question came to light. His accolades on the wrestling mat had initially earned him the nickname "king kong". He is a silver medalist at the 1991 Asian Wrestling Championships which were held in Delhi and he also boasts of a Gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships. However, the counsel for the guilty ones have sworn to take the case to higher judicial powers. “We are not satisfied with the judgment, it seems that the judgment was delivered to protect Punjab Police,” said Shelly Sharma, counsel for one of the convicts, to Indian Express. This current case was heard and sentenced in a special CBI court in Mohali yesterday and Bhola was sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment in the multi-crore drugs smuggling case.