Years of addiction pushed 4 Ferozepur men into penury, died within 48 hours

The four drug addicts, who died in a span of two days at Ferozepur’s Lakho ke Behram village earlier this week, were reduced to mere skeletal by their addiction, which they could not overcome despite repeated attempts at their rehabilitation.

While one of them lost his government job due to the craving for drugs, two others worked as daily wagers before being rendered incapable of undertaking any chore.

The fourth victim was unemployed, primarily due to disability as he walked with a limp in his one leg.

According to a report filed by a medical team that had visited their homes, they all were chronic drug addicts having a weak immune system incapable of even fighting off common infections and diseases.

Moreover, even household items had to be sold to arrange for the treatment of one of the addicts as the addiction had pushed his family into penury. One of the victims, Amaid Singh (25) used to work as a daily wager before being rendered bed-ridden by his addiction. Nowadays, he was living alone, surviving with some support from his aunt, who resided in the same village. He was married and had one-and-a-half-year-old son. His wife had been living separately with their son since last year.

Amaid’s cousin Kulwant Singh said he was a chronic drug abuser for the past several years. Due to being bed-ridden, his body was infested with multiple ulcers. He expired at 7.30 pm on September 30 at home. The other victim — Randeep Singh (26) — was unmarried and used to work as a farm labourer. For the past two years, he was unemployed. He was also handicapped.

Randeep’s father said when he came back home on Tuesday, his son was shivering and taken to a private hospital from where he was referred to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College in Faridkot. On the way to the hospital, he expired around 12.30 am on October 1.

Ramandeep Singh (26) was also unmarried.

He was admitted to a private de-addiction centre in Malout for the past three months and had returned home on September 28.

According to his family, he was admitted to different centres at least eight times.

He was found unconscious at Peer Baba Mehkan Dargah near Shamshan Ghaat in the village and was brought home by his brother around 9.30 pm on Tuesday. He expired while at home at 4.30 am the next day. According to information, Ramandeep had allegedly tried to injected a drug intravenously.

Sandeep Singh (28) earlier worked at the Water Supply Department. He was dismissed from his job a year ago.

His wife Sunita said Sandeep was drug abuser, besides being immunocompromised as per the Outpatient Opioid Assistance Treatment (OOAT) centre record at the Community Health Centre, Mamdot. On September 28, he had left home after having breakfast.

Sandeep felt some uneasiness near a Janjghar and had collapsed. He was brought home and expired at 1 pm on the same day.

Officials said in none of the cases, autopsy could be conducted as their family members did not allow it.

An official said currently, there are around 130 patients who were taking medicine from OOAT Centre in this village.

Over the years, the number of patients at the centre has swelled, especially after the police crackdown on drug supply chain, as addicts started searching for other options due to unavailability of narcotics.