Police in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district have seized assets worth more than ₹1.64 crore from a man who ran a barbershop, after finding that his salon was merely a front for an opium and drug smuggling operation. Additional SP Mehr Kanwar of Shimla confirmed the crackdown, describing it as part of a wider financial offensive against drug trafficking networks.
A salon that hid a smuggling operation
A case was registered at Theog police station on June 10, 2026, against the accused, Sohan Lal alias Happy. Police recovered around 71 grams of opium from his barbershop at Rahighat. Investigators found that Sohan Lal had been illegally supplying opium across Theog, Kotkhai, Rohru and nearby areas for a long time, using his salon business as cover while running the drug trade largely unchecked.
Financial probe uncovers crores in hidden assets
Once the drug case was registered, police launched a financial investigation into the income and holdings of the accused and his associates. The probe identified a residential plot, agricultural land, a two-storey shop, a vehicle, and deposits held in bank and post office accounts, together valued at ₹1.64 crore. Police said these assets appeared, prima facie, to have been acquired from earnings of the illegal drug trade, and were accordingly seized under the provisions of the NDPS Act.
Over ₹8 crore seized in 2026 so far
ASP Mehr Kanwar said Shimla police have, through financial investigations in 12 NDPS cases in 2026 alone, seized movable, immovable and financial assets worth more than ₹8 crore. She noted that no such financial probe or asset seizure had taken place in similar cases during 2024 and 2025. Police said their action will no longer stop at recovering drugs and making arrests, and that they will continue to strictly target illegal properties built from the proceeds of the drug trade.
