Where drugs flow freely, with no record of deaths

Meanwhile, the village mourns its victims. Ranjit Singh, a former sarpanch, says, “How many families will you cover? In the past eight months, there have been more than 30 deaths.” The village register, though, does not have any records of deaths in the past two years.

Gurmeet, 23, who comes from Mundi Jamaal to buy drugs here, says, “I am coming here for one and half years. Pure heroin and poppy husk are in abundance here.”

With blue arms and swollen nerves, Younas Singh, 22, says, “Here drugs are the cheapest. Heroin is for Rs 1500/gram than 5000/gm outside.”

Jagir Kaur, mother of 23-year-old Avtar Singh who committed suicide, says, “He was newly married. I wanted him to build his career and move out. That day he asked for money to buy injections and I refused.”

About 3,000 people and 80 per cent families are involved in drug peddling here. More than 200 men have been jailed under NDPS Act, more than 200 are proclaimed offenders and others have never been booked.

“My husband and son were in jail for drug peddling but I was never involved. Police wanted me to confess that I sell drugs and asked for Rs 3 lakh. who was given electric shocks by the police,” says Gurdeep Kaur, 60.

SAD’s Gurmeet Kaur, who won the sarpanch polls, rued, “Our village has been defamed. There are no drugs here.”

Nirmal Singh, her husband, is a proclaimed offender with more than five cases under NDPS Act against him.
Drug hubs: Mosque and school
Heaps of glass bottles, disposable syringes and drug packets welcome visitors at a 100-year-old abandoned mosque.

Sukha, 13, and Amandeep, 14, are injecting themselves before leaving for school. “Publish our name. We fear nothing,” they say.

“For 3-4 years, this zone is a hub for drug addicts,” says Gurmukh, a teenager. Drugs have not even spared Sarkaari Model School, Daulewala.
Balwinder Singh, the headmaster, says, “They stun me with their questions. They see their fathers selling packets of powder. They ask me why I wait a whole month for my meagre salary.”

“Children know what is chitta, heroin, poppy or smack. The fathers of more than 40 per cent are in jail. They take often take leave to meet them,” says Singh.