‘Chitta’ addict wants to come clean

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, December 6

Having wasted lakhs of rupees on synthetic drug ‘chitta’, 25-year-old Manpreet Singh (name changed) wants to turn over a new leaf. Undergoing treatment at the Sangrur de-addiction centre, he now wants to help the police arrest drug peddlers.

“I have wasted about Rs 60 lakh on ‘chitta’. Now, I want to give information on smugglers to the police,” says the Morinda youth. Seated next to his bed is a congenial old man. 

“He is Manpreet’s grandfather. He has the details of the family money gone down the drain  in the past five years,” says Mohan Sharma, the director of the centre. 

Pampered by his father, paternal uncle and three aunts, all settled in the UK, money was never a problem for Manpreet. He was raised by his maternal grandparents after his parents split and his mother remarried. 

As Manpreet had a joint bank account with his grandfather, he would withdraw money at will. 

Remorseful, the young lad has a lot to tell about drug traders and their modus operandi. “In border districts such as Tarn Taran and Amritsar, smugglers offer incentives. For example, if one is willing to pay Rs 5-7 lakh for 1 kg of ‘chitta’, he also gets to pick one of the three options — 1 kg of opium, Rs 3 lakh fake currency or a 9 mm pistol,” he claims.

Manpreet, who was introduced to ‘chitta’ by a group of friends in 2012, was admitted to the Sangrur de-addiction centre this September. “I would buy the drug from peddlers in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Dera Bassi, Chandigarh, Ambala and New Delhi. 

“African youths in India have lately come up with their own concoction which they call ‘cracked cocaine’. They give it for free in the beginning so that ‘chitta’ addicts shift to this new  stronger drug,” he claims. Turning to the doctor, he remarks: “Once out of the centre, I will join the authorities in their fight against the menace.”