Punjab’s ‘chitta’ women

Deepti Verma in Ludhiana

PUNJAB’S Rs 6500-crore annual heroin market (as per an AIIMS study) is fast consuming married women as well. Worse, children in some villages are becoming informers of drug peddlers. Sample this: the Ludhiana Reformatory for Women  houses 191 inmates of whom more than half are booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. 

“On average, five women dealing in illegal drug trade are lodged daily in this reformatory. The number is steadily rising. Though they are from various parts of the state, most belong to Nawanshahr and surrounding areas,” says Damanjeet Kaur Walia, superintendent of Ludhiana jail. “the women are smart. If they have to supply a kg of drug, they would make 20 trips instead of one for the entire lot. That means if they are caught, only a small amount is recovered, which leads to leaner jail term and easy bail,” says Lakhvinder Jakhar, DIG. 

Women’s stories

A meeting with a cross-section of inmates, after permission from the authorities, throws up interesting details about them. Since naming the inmates is prohibited, let’s call them by alphabets: 

‘A’ (35) is from Burj Lambran village in Hambraan, Ludhiana. She is among the most ‘popular’ and well-off inmates. Dressed up nicely, she says she is innocent. “Mere saamne goliyan kutt ke paaiyan policewaleyan ne te mere te jhootha case karta nashe da. (policemen kept powdered tablets in front of me and lodged a false drug case against me),” she says. The police have declared her husband, Gurcharan Singh, an absconder. “I was arrested in 2014 and stayed in jail for two months and seven days. My mother-in-law arranged bail for me. I was rearrested in November last year,” she says. 

‘B’ (34) is from Rajasthan, serving a 10-year jail term. Arrested in 2013 with 13-kg opium, she accuses an acquaintance of implicating her. “I came to Punjab looking for a good hospital for my cancer-stricken husband. I didn’t know those who promised help were drug dealers. To save themselves and their daughter, they framed me,” she says. “Jo ye kaam karte hain wo chale jaate hain. Unhe jail nahi hoti (those involved in the trade leave. They are never jailed),” she says. ‘B’ has done a six-month beautician course in the jail and is currently learning stitching.

‘C’ is from Jagraon. The Enforcement Directorate recently froze her properties worth Rs 2.5 crore after her arrest on April 21. Booked for kidnapping, she was out on bail on May 11. Drugs smuggling cases have been registered against all her family members in the past five years, except her.

‘D’ (50) is sentenced to 10 years in jail. High on medicines, she struggles to stand up straight. “Mera ilaaj chalda peya hai civil hospital wich nasha chaddan da. Main charas ate chitta lendi si. (I am undergoing de-addiction treatment at a civil hospital. I took cannabis and heroin),” she says. First booked in 2007, she has lost track of the number of cases registered against her. As recently as on April 15, she was brought to the jail. “My husband died after drug overdose,” says the woman as she breaks down.

‘E’ admits to snorting and injecting heroin. “My husband introduced me to drugs. He is a smuggler and an addict too,” says the 25-year-old, booked for attempting to murder her husband. 

‘Hub of dealers’

As you enter the dusty lanes of Kul Gehna village in Jagraon (Ludhiana), you watch a strange spectacle: children running around, trying their best to outpace a new vehicle entering the village. “They are informers. They recognize cops’ vehicles and those with private registration plates. They tell their families about newcomers,” says Bhundri ASI Balour Singh.

Most of village men are in jail for involvement in drug smuggling. In their absence, women seem to have taken charge. “Garibi bahut aa. Ki kariye? Dekho dikhai lag gaye ji is kamm vich (We are very poor. We followed others to earn livelihood),” says Baljinder Kaur. Selling a gm of heroin, known as chitta, gets her around Rs 4,000 — over 10 times more than a day’s hard work out in the fields. She spent 28 days behind bars after she was caught selling ‘chitta’ in 2015. The mother of four children, she has never tasted the ‘powder,’ but her children are hooked to it, and she can’t help much.

Guran Bai, 45, was arrested on February 12 with 2 gm heroin. Her two sons are out on bail, charged with the same crime. “We are labourers. Everyone in the village was dealing in drugs, so, we followed them,” she says. 

Almost every house in the village has a cooler, a TV set and a washing machine. Asked where the men have gone, the women say they have run away. “ASI sahib to darde bhajje ne. Hun nasha ni karde oh. Par darde ne.” (They have run away fearing the ASI. They no more do drugs but are scared.),” said an elderly woman, who follows the police to every house they visit in the village, stoutly defending the men of their area.