7 dead in 4 days, lives ‘cut’ short

AMRITSAR: Even as the Special Task Force (STF) and the police have seemingly failed to snap the supply chain of heroin, they are up against another challenge. A new synthetic drug named “cut” has found its way into the local market.

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 26

Even as the Special Task Force (STF) and the police have seemingly failed to snap the supply chain of heroin, they are up against another challenge. A new synthetic drug named “cut” has found its way into the local market.

STF officials claim that the fusion of “cut” and heroin is fatal and it might be the cause behind the recent deaths of seven addicted youths in four days in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts.

With these deaths, the role of the STF, which was specially constituted to curb the drug menace in the state, is being questioned. The STF like the police seems to be more concerned about minor drug recoveries, as nothing substantial could be achieved so far.

However, Rashpal Singh, Assistant Inspector General Police (AIG), Border Range Amritsar, claimed: “Since we have managed to contain the supply of heroin, the peddlers are mixing the new substance (cut) with heroin. We are closely investigating the recent deaths. There might be some link as all these addicts seem to have procured the drugs from the same source. We will get laboratory reports of the recently recovered powder to check its potency.”

He said the preliminary investigation had revealed that the addicts, who had injected the combination of “cut” and heroin, had died.

The AIG said the Special Task Force did not have sufficient resources and staff at its disposal to tackle the menace. “We have still shown good results in a short span. We have managed to break the supply line of heroin,” he claimed.

The fatal shot

June 25: Gurbhej Singh Bheja (25) of Dhotian village dies after he reportedly injected drugs; Gurjant Singh (25) of Emma Kalan village too dies of drug overdose

June 24: Harbhej Singh (30) of Himmat Nagar area found dead near the Railway Lines at Verka. A syringe and a vial were lying near the body; Navneet Singh of the Bhail Dhaiwala (Mand) village in Tarn Taran found dead at the cremation ground of Vain Poin village. His photos were circulated on social media.

June 22: Two youths died of drug overdose at Chheharta on the outskirts of the city. Victims Karan Pasi (26) and his friend Harpreet Singh (28) were residents of Chheharta. The police found syringes near the bodies; another youth Palwinder Singh of Sharma Colony found dead at Paragdas chowk. He, too, died of drug overdose.