PUNJAB’S ‘DODA KING’ BALDEV, ABSCONDING FOR 3 YEARS, ARRESTED IN RAJASTHAN

Raj Sadosh/Abohar.

The Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) has arrested Patiala resident Baldev Singh—known reportedly as Punjab’s ‘Doda King’—as part of its crackdown on drug smugglers in Rajasthan.

ANTF Inspector General Vikas Kumar said that 83.930 kg of illegal poppy husk post) and the luxury car used for smuggling were seized from Baldev, who carried a reward of Rs 25,000 and had been wanted for the past three years.

The ANTF team received intelligence that whenever Baldev would come to procure the contraband, he would take a friend from Rawatbhata along with him. The team kept a watch outside a Gurdwara in Badgaon (Kota). Baldev arrived there to pay his respects and then left for Madhya Pradesh with his friend the next morning. After loading a large quantity of poppy husk into the car in Madhya Pradesh, Baldev set off for Punjab via the Mumbai Expressway through Rajasthan; ANTF vehicles immediately began tailing him. Upon spotting a police blockade at the Modak intersection in Chechat, Baldev turned his vehicle around and drove into the narrow lanes of Phanda village. His speeding car crashed straight into a wall. Following the crash, Baldev and his accomplice jumped out and fled. When ANTF personnel shouted, “Smugglers are running, catch them!”, villagers also rushed to assist the police. The police apprehended Baldev, who was hiding in the bushes, his accomplice managed to escape. The police recovered a total of 83.930 kg of poppy husk from the car.

The IGP said that Baldev used to visit Rajasthan with a combine harvester during the crop harvesting season. During this, he established his own network by connecting with smugglers from Chittorgarh. He gradually became such a major supplier that he came to be known as the ‘Doda King’ in Punjab. In 2023, Baldev managed to flee after abandoning his vehicle during a police blockade in Kotputli-Behror, while his driver and the consignment of poppy husk were apprehended. The IGP stated that Baldev employed highly cunning tactics to evade the police; he would use a different vehicle each time to ensure the police could not trace the registration number.