HP: Drug peddler swallows packet of 'chitta' after being caught by police, 5 held

An alleged drug peddler swallowed a packet containing 7.60 grams of ‘chitta’, or adulterated heroin, after she along with four others were caught by police here, officials said on Friday.

Following a tip-off, the police patrolling team intercepted a vehicle coming from Sanjauli near Cemetery Tunnel in Shimla on Wednesday, they said.

The moment the car occupants saw the police, Shaheen Sultan (26) took out a small packet, containing ‘chitta’, from her pocket and swallowed it with water, police said.

During interrogation, one of the five occupants told the police that Sultan had swallowed the packet following which she was taken for a medical examination, they said.

The doctors at the Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital removed the packet through endoscopy and 7.60 grams of ‘chitta’ was recovered, police said.

Mukul Sharma (20), Happy Chandel (27), Saurav Panwar (24), Harsh (22) and Shaheen have been arrested, police said, adding a case under sections 21 (punishment for possession of drugs) and 29 (criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered against them, they said.

Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said, ”This is a unique case of its own kind in the state where the contraband is swallowed by an accused and later taken out through endoscopy by the doctors.” As many as 502 persons, including 15 women, have been arrested in 337 cases of the NDPS in Shimla district in the past six months, he added.