Former national-level wrestler turned drug smuggler arrested after three years manhunt

NEW DELHI: A 31-year-old former national-level wrestler, Amit Sheoran, who had been on the run since 2023 after being declared a proclaimed offender in an alleged major opium smuggling case, has been arrested, police said.

Sheoran, a bronze medalist in the 2013 National Cadet wrestling competition, was apprehended near the Madhuban Chowk Metro Station on Tuesday night following a coordinated manhunt. He is the resident of Rohtak district in Haryana.

The accused was wanted by the Jharkhand police in connection with an NDPS case registered at Dhurwa (Tupudana) police station in Ranchi, where he was accused of sourcing opium to supply to wrestling training centres (akhadas) across Haryana and Delhi. Following his arrest, he was handed over to the Jharkhand Police for further judicial proceedings.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch described the arrest as “a major blow to organised crime,” noting that it was the result of “continuous surveillance, strategic intelligence gathering and meticulously coordinated field operations against criminals involved in heinous crimes and evading the judicial process”. Sheoran had been evading arrest since December 6, 2023, when he was officially declared a proclaimed offender by the court.

#WATCH | Delhi Police Crime Branch’s NR-II Unit has arrested Amit Sheoran, 31, a national-level wrestler, who had been declared a Proclaimed Offender since Dec 6, 2023, in an NDPS case registered in Ranchi, Jharkhand. He was allegedly involved in procuring and supplying opium to… pic.twitter.com/MO6OKThq1H

— ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2026

The investigation into his activities intensified after a Jharkhand-based supplier, Rajesh Nag, was arrested in April 2023 with nearly half a kilogram of opium. Nag reportedly confessed that his supply was “specifically dedicated to the wrestlers of North India” and identified Sheoran as a primary receiver.

During interrogation, Sheoran revealed a troubling link between the sporting world and narcotics. He told investigators that during his time training at the Mehar Singh Akhada in Rohtak and the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi, he observed that “many wrestlers used to take opium to increase their working hours and practice sessions.”

Although he had achieved success at the state and national levels, his aspirations of joining the Indian Railways were derailed by his entry into the criminal world. The Crime Branch stated that Sheoran was eventually “lured to work as a drug supplier with the promise to earn quick and easy money” by an associate named Ranjeet.

The operation to capture Sheoran was triggered by a “credible human intelligence input” developed by the Crime Branch regarding his movement in the Ranibagh-Pitampura area to meet a relative. On August 18, a joint team of Delhi Police and Jharkhand Police laid a strategic trap near the Madhuban Chowk Metro Station. At approximately 10 pm, Sheoran was identified by the investigating officer and successfully apprehended.

Police records indicate that Sheoran is currently involved in six criminal cases. Before becoming a full-time drug runner, he had worked as a bouncer in various bars and nightclubs in Delhi.

The Crime Branch emphasised that this arrest was part of a “focused crackdown by intensifying technical surveillance and strengthening its human intelligence network to identify and neutralise active operatives” involved in heinous offences. (ANI)