Punjab village mourns as 4 die in 48 hours 'from drug abuse', easy access sparks anger

Four youths, all in their mid-twenties, died within a span of 48 hours in Lakho ke Behram village situated along the Ferozepur-Fazilka road, triggering outrage and anguish among family members and friends. While one death was reported on Tuesday, three more followed within hours on Wednesday, leaving their families shattered.

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“It’s a matter of chance and has probably happened for the first time that four youths in an area died back to back though they belonged to different families, and their deaths were not interlinked, but the tragedy struck over two days," said Kulwant Singh, a villager. While villagers attributed the cause of deaths to prolonged drug addiction, police officials maintained that two deceased had been bed-ridden for the last few months, and had died following deteriorating health condition.

As per information, all of them had a history of consuming drugs and had stayed in de-addiction centres several times, but in vain. Notwithstanding intervention by the elders and fellow villagers, they could not settle down and the urge to consume drugs kept them on the edge. The deceased were identified as Sandeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, alias Rajan, Randeep Singh and Umed Singh, alias Umedu.

Ramandeep had reportedly injected himself with some tablets which he was supposed to consume orally, due to which he died on Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, though Umedu and Randeep had left drugs, their health had worsened over a period of time. One had bed sores and the other's legs had developed some problem.

Following the incidents, family members of the deceased along with other villagers blocked the highway for three hours keeping the bodies on the road, while blaming seven medical shops of selling psychotropic drugs in the village.

Sukhdeep Kaur, a village panchayat member, alleged that many families were reeling under the menace of drugs, and despite strictness by the police during the last few months, the pharmacy shops were still thriving. “I lost my son last year due to drugs. There are several families which are affected but sadly nothing is being done by the authorities concerned to regulate these kind of shops selling drugs,” she alleged.

Bachittar Singh, father of deceased Ramandeep, said that his son had been battling drug addiction for several years, and finally fell prey to it, despite getting treatment at the de-addiction centre. Paramjit Singh, uncle of Ramandeep, said that he had been consuming drugs for the last nine years, and had been in and out of drug de-addiction centres 10 times. Recently, he came back after taking treatment from a private deaddiction centre in Malout, but again injected himself and died on Wednesday morning.

Another victim, Umedu had virtually sold off all his belongings, from furniture to utensils, to cough up money on drugs, and ultimately landed into a debt trap with poverty ruling the roost. His parents had died long time back, and even his wife had left him with their infant son due to his habit. Prakash Kaur, his aunt, said Umedu was staying alone in a pitiable condition, and had been bed-ridden for several months with no money for treatment.

Manjit Singh, SP (D), said that there were some old chronic addicts who were attempting to quit drugs but failed. He said that the police were trying to counsel such youths and even getting them admitted to de-addiction centres. However, the peril was deep rooted, he said, adding that though the police had been able to break the nexus and the supply chain, it would take more time to completely eradicate the same.

About the medical shops allegedly selling psychotropic drugs, Manjit said that the police were taking action against them and had got them closed, adding that the Health Department had been roped in to conduct raids to ascertain facts. Ironically,  though there is no hospital or clinic in the village with a population of around 4,500, there are around seven pharmacy shops here, which are under the scanner as people have been suspecting their real intent and purpose.