Tarn Taran bypoll: woman faces threats after complaining to Punjab CM Mann about drug menace in border village

According to Baljinder Kaur, when the chief minister made a brief stop in the village, she approached him and narrated how her son had fallen victim to illegal drugs and how rampant the illegal trade had become in the area.
After the complaint, the Sarai Amanat Khan police registered an FIR under sections 21(B)/61/85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against Abinash Singh, a resident of Naushera Dhala, following the recovery of 11 g of heroin and Rs 10,000 in alleged drug money from his possession. One more person has been named in the FIR but is on the run.

“It always happens like this—the police conduct raids, but those arrested or detained are soon released. Now the same people are threatening my son and asking why I spoke to the chief minister,” Baljinder Kaur said. A mother of three, she added that while one of her sons works at a marriage palace, her daughter and daughter-in-law—both employed in Singapore—financially support the family.

Kaur said she had to send her grandson to live with relatives because her drug-addicted son was unfit to care for him. “The son of my brother-in-law had died due to a drug overdose. I am afraid that my son would also go down the same path. We are deeply pained. It’s not just my family; the entire village is suffering. Women here travel to Jhabal and Tarn Taran to earn daily wages and cannot keep an eye on their sons,” she said.
“My son works with my husband in the fields, but he spends all his earnings on drugs and even sells household items to sustain the habit,” Kaur added.

According to Kaur, the illegal drugs situation has deteriorated over the years. “The problem was not as severe during the SAD-BJP Government. It worsened under the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party governments. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has made good promises, but those promises must be fulfilled to put an end to drug smuggling,” she said.