3 min readAmritsarOct 19, 2022 11:47 AM IST
First published on: Oct 19, 2022 at 11:47 AM IST
The death of two brothers due to drug addiction on the same day in Punjab’s Amritsar and a viral video of drug abuse inside a jail where one of the brothers was lodged has put the focus back on the drug menace in the state.
According to a relative, Hargun (24) and Rohan (20), who hailed from a poor family in Amritsar, were addicted to drugs and died on October 15. Hargun was lodged in Amritsar jail after the police allegedly caught him with drugs in his possession. His health deteriorated after he started suffering from withdrawal symptoms and he was admitted to a hospital where he died, the relative added. Rohan, who was admitted to a drug de-addiction centre, was brought home for Hargun’s cremation. According to the relative, he got hold of heroin and died due to a drug overdose on the same day.
Days later, on Tuesday, a video purportedly showing inmates taking heroin inside Amritsar jail went viral. Hargun was lodged in the same jail. The sarpanch of Manawala village, Sukhraj Singh, shared the video with the media and said that it was from October. “I was arrested in an assault case two weeks ago and was in jail for five days. I noticed that Amritsar jail was a haven for drug smugglers and addicts. I have arranged this video from sources who wanted this to come out,” the sarpanch said.
“I have taken strict note of it. A thorough investigation will be done by the police,” Punjab Jail Minister Harjot Bains said, adding that all those involved from the jail department will not be spared.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Gurpartap Singh Sahota said that the family has not lodged any complaint about the deaths of their sons. The parents were separated and the sons lived with their father, a helper at Durgiana Temple.
The brothers’ deaths have raised doubts about the claims of the Punjab government and the police that the drug menace in the state is being curbed.
This is the second such case of brothers dying due to alleged drug addiction in the Majha region in the last two months. Between the last week of August and the first week of September, brothers Angrez Singh and Gurmel Singh from Dhun Dhaye Wala, a village in Tarn Taran, died within 10 days, allegedly due to drug addiction.
The deaths of two other youngsters from Tarn Taran’s Marhana village due to drug overdose were also reported in the last few days. While Sikandarjit Singh, a 26-year-old youth, died on Sunday, 18-year-old Mehakdeep Singh died on Saturday.
The deaths come at a time when the Punjab police are cracking down on the drug trade in the state. On Monday, the police said they have arrested 353 drug smugglers or suppliers after registering 271 first information reports (FIRs), including 33 commercial, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act across the state in the last week and recovered 11.56 kg heroin, 13.51 kg opium, 900 grams ganja, 8 quintals of poppy husk, and 88,014 tablets/capsules/injections/vials of pharma opioids besides Rs 20 lakh in drug money.
On Tuesday, a video purportedly showing inmates taking heroin inside Amritsar jail went viral. Hargun was lodged in the same jail. (File) 
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