Himachal Anti-Drug Drive Faces Credibility Test, 21 Cops, 19 Govt Servants Sacked

After Charas, heroin, smack, opioid pills, and chitta—a white powdery highly addictive drug, the leading cause of 70 per cent of overdose deaths in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh— LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), a potent hallucinogenic substance, is now entering the hills, marking a dangerous shift from traditional narcotics to synthetic highs.

Yet, a more alarming dimension is the alleged involvement of police personnel, four of whom are from the Special Task Force (SFT), a highly specialised police unit established to deal with drugs, and government servants—19 of them already sacked from their jobs.

The situation is nearly as grave as along the Punjab border, where large quantities of drugs are smuggled from Pakistan through drones, waterways, and land routes. It is from here that the consignments make their way to Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir

An increasing number of women, particularly rural women in the age of 26 to 34, is falling prey to drug abuse and trafficking rackets in Himachal Pradesh.

This month, the police in Shimla, the state’s capital town, made a significant breakthrough, busting an interstate drug trafficking racket resulting in the seizure of 562 LSD strips, valued at approximately Rs one crore in the international market.

Initially, the police arrested two persons—Sandeep Sharma, 46, who hailed from Dharamkot in Punjab’s Moga district, and Priya Sharma (26), a resident of Dadahu in Himachal’s Sirmaur district.

But when the investigations progressed, the police found two head constables and two constables were involved in the trafficking. What shocked the top echelons of the police was that they were posted in the Special Task Force (STF) wing in Kullu district.

Identified as Head Constables Rajesh Kumar, 40, from Manali, and Sameer Kumar, 40, from Bhuntar, and Constables Nitesh Kumar, 46, from Bajaura, and Ashok Kumar, 42, from Kullu district, they have since been dismissed from the service after their arrests under the NDPC Act.

The Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Tiwari said the police have invoked provisions of Article 311(2)(b) of the Constitution, without a departmental inquiry, to emphasise a zero-tolerance policy against corruption and drug-related misconduct.

“The investigation has revealed a wider interstate drug cartel operating from Bengaluru to Kullu and Shimla, using digital platforms and courier services for supply. A key supplier, Naviel Harrison from Kerala, was arrested in Gurugram on March 13, 2026,” Tiwari revealed

Till now, during the past six months, the state government has dismissed 21 police personnel, who were found either directly involved in the drug trafficking or facilitating the peddlers to supply drugs to the youths, even to the remotest small towns, including Rohru, Jubbal, Rampur, Bilaspur, and the districts of Kullu, Una, Kangra, Chamba, and Solan. 

The tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti were once relatively insulated from the drug menace. However, they are now witnessing the emergence of inter-district trafficking networks, with multiple cases being registered in these regions.

The deeper investigation into the LSD racket has led the police to a larger exposé about a well-organised interstate drug cartel using courier services, digital platforms, and banking channels to run a sophisticated supply chain from Bengaluru into Himachal Pradesh.

“LSD is a highly potent and expensive chemical drug that can trigger intense hallucinations and severe mental distress; though not considered physically addictive, its unpredictable effects pose significant risks,” says a senior scientist at the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu

Till now, Himachal Pradesh has been struggling to track the illegal supply chain and also the notorious interstate drug mafia involved in smuggling to “Chitta” in the state, but now the threat of LSD signals a worrying shift in Himachal’s drug landscape, especially among youths.

Leader of the opposition Jairam Thakur, questioned Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu about the serious lapses in the state’s drive against drugs.

“Your anti-chitta campaign appears more like an exercise in optics and superficial than effective enforcement. While large rallies and student outreach may raise awareness, the arrest of STF personnel for involvement in drug trafficking raises serious questions about the impact on the ground. Those who cleared the names of policemen for STF (now involved) have to own a moral responsibility,” he said

To this, Sukhu said the government wants to wipe out drugs from the state.

“The drug menace in the state has not emerged solely over the last three years since the Congress came into power. It was during the tenure of the previous BJP government that the drug menace spread to villages,” he alleged, adding, “but now, those involved in the smuggling are getting arrested, dismissed from their jobs, and put behind bars."

He emphasised that it was the police force itself that arrested four personnel from the Kullu Anti-Drug Task Force who were found to be colluding with the drug mafia.

The government has mapped out the specific panchayats in the state where the drug problem is most acute to ensure that no mother loses her child to narcotics.

The government, he said, will debar all those persons who are linked to drugs in the state from contesting the panchayat polls. A bill will be introduced in the state assembly to make it a stringent norm. The Police Act will also be amended to deal with the drug mafia and the colluders.

He has announced his next 'walkathon'—an anti-drug rally at Mandi, Kullu, and Una and taking the drive up to the panchayat levels.

Social activists believe that Himachal’s geographical location and movement of tourists facilitate easy smuggling from the neighbouring state of Punjab, posing a continuous challenge to border control. The drug traffickers use high-tech gadgets and social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and UPI for transactions to avoid detection. 

Studies reveal that NDPS cases in the state have surged by 340% over the last decade. The state agencies have seized assets worth nearly Rs 22 crore from drug peddlers in the past three years. However, police involvement and the role of police personnel in aiding the drug gangs have made the situation worse for the law enforcement agencies and the government.