HC notice spurs action: 5 held with heroin in 2 days

After the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday took suo motu cognisance of The Tribune report, “Heroin openly sold here: Bathinda villagers paint message for admn”, and sought a detailed affidavit from the state, the Maur police have arrested five persons, including two women, and seized 23 gm heroin from them in three cases.

Those arrested on Tuesday were Makhan Singh of Maur Kalan village and Jagjit Singh of Jodhpur Pakhar village. They were held for allegedly carrying 7 gm heroin at Maur Kalan village.

On Wednesday, Anju Kaur of Maur Kalan village was arrested for allegedly carrying 10 gm heroin. In another instance on the same day, Kulwinder Singh and Jasvir Kaur, both residents of Maur Kalan village, were arrested from Maur Mandi for allegedly carrying 6 gm heroin.

Bathinda SSP Amneet Kondal said the police had registered 23 cases under the NDPS Act in this village alone and arrested 43 persons between March 1 and November 30.

Five persons have been admitted to de-addiction centres under Section 64-A of the NDPS Act, while several others have been sent to outpatient opioid assisted treatment (OOAT) centres.