Punjab drug menace: Ex-sarpanch dies after 5 days at ‘illegal’ de-addiction centre, says family

According to police, four-time sarpanch till 2003 and block samiti member for five years, Jasbir was admitted to Shri Guru Gobind Singh ji Khalsa Gurmat Parsar Sanstha in Tarn Taran on June 22.

“He died in the morning (of June 27) but they informed us in the night that they had taken him to Tarn Taran civil hospital as his condition had deteriorated. When we reached there, the doctor told us that he was brought dead,” said Jasbir’s friend Amrik Singh.

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According to the family, the centre was around 37 km from their village and had begun operations two months ago on rented premises. “No doctor was available and some religious men were treating the addicts,” said Jasbir’s nephew Sukhwinder Singh.

“It was only after his death that we went to the centre. We were taken aback as we found that there was only one tin-roofed hall, and two-three small rooms. There was no bed, no doctor and no other facility,” he said.

When The Indian Express visited the centre Thursday, it found it locked from outside. “After the death of the ex-sarpanch, all those running the centre fled. We locked it and handed over the keys to police,” said Amrik Singh.

Apart from his wife, Jasbir left behind his mother, a 14-year-old son and two married daughters. His wife said he was hooked to opium and poppy husk before turning to alcohol. “Around eight years ago, he underwent treatment at a de-addiction centre in Ropar,” said Kaur. Asked why they opted for another centre this time, she said it was recommended by her nephew who “told me that he got rehabilitated from this centre”.

Said Sukhdeep Singh, Jasbir’s younger brother, “Four persons from the centre came in a vehicle on June 22. They were in long shirts and looked like religious men. They gave him (Jasbir) some intoxicant after which he fell unconscious. Then they put him in the vehicle and took him away.”

The family said they paid Rs 50,000 as advance to the centre for two months of treatment.

“They promised to make him drug-free in two months and put forward a condition that the family could neither meet him nor talk to him on phone for two months. We agreed because we wanted to see him cured,” said Jasbir’s mother Gurmeet Kaur, 70.

“We came to know that they tied Jasbir with a rope under the sun for whole day without giving food and water,” said Jasbir’s brother. In the complaint to police, Sukhwinder has accused the centre of negligence.

Ravinder Singh, president of the centre, said all the allegations were baseless. He said the family did not inform them that Jasbir was a cancer survivor and a diabetic. On being asked why they fled, he said Jasbir’s family had been threatening them. Jasbir’s wife admitted that he was diagnosed with blood cancer a few years back, but said he had been treated. She said they had informed the centre about it.

Ravisher Singh, SHO, Goindwal Sahib police station, said they were waiting for the post-mortem report for further action.