Page 17 - Tehelka Issue 14E

CoverStory DRUG MENACE

INTERVIEW
and was discharged on June 21. On the fateful night,
he went out of the house for the first time after being NEW POLICIES
discharged from the centre. His mother Hardeep Kaur
confirmed that he used ‘chitta’ (white powder).
Jotu of Gumtala in Amritsar too died due to drug
addiction. His father Amar Singh told police that drug SET TO INJECT
peddlers were quite active in the village. “I knew that
he was addicted to alcohol, but I don’t know when he
got into the narcotics.” Gurbhej Singh of village Dho-
tian in Tarn Taran district died on June 25. His mother HEALTH
Sawinder Kaur said that her son was a drug addict.
“Drugs have snatched him away from us forever and I
found a syringe of drugs still in his vein when he died.”
Lavpreet of Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda died on June AMONG DRUG
30. His father Jeevan Khana confirmed that “Lavpreet
ADDICTS
got hooked to drugs about two years back after he
came in contact with some bad elements and used

Amid a spate of deaths

due to suspected drugs Scores have died of drug overdose in
various parts of Punjab in recent past.
overdose, the Punjab While the present administration is

government is counting blaming the previous state government for
its inaction to deal with the drug addiction
on its three dozen-odd and related threats to the society, the latter
is questioning the apathy of the existing
drug de-addiction setup for it. PUNJAB HEALTH MINISTER

centres to help addicts BRAHM MOHINDRA discusses the issue
with RAJU WILLIAM and tells him what
kick the habit measures the government has taken so far
to handle the drug menace.
PHOTOS: RAMAN GILL

n Punjab, June had proved to be the cruellest Minister Brahm Mohindra, however, dismissed the to take chitta”. In Kotkapura under Faridkot district, There is huge furore over recent deaths due to
month as dozens of deaths were reported from toll figure as highly exaggerated and claimed that Balwinder Singh died on June 22. When his body was drugs. Your government had pledged to wipe out
different parts of the State due to drugs overdose. “only two drug-overdose deaths were confirmed as found from fields, a syringe was still in his hands. Sau- the menace in four weeks of coming to power. As
I Drug addiction, interestingly, was a major issue per official records”. rav and Nitin died in Jalandhar due to drug addiction. the state health minister and senior-most cabinet
in the last Assembly elections in Punjab. Both Con- Media reports suggest that the first two weeks They were lying unconscious in Amar Nagar. Police minister, what is your take on this?
gress and Aam Aadmi Party had taken on the then witnessed 17 deaths. In other words, one life snuffed recovered drug injections and some other banned
ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janta out every passing day. Kuljeet Singh of Sawaddi Ka- substances near the bodies. See, this is a big and complex issue. There are
Party on this issue. So much so, a Cabinet Minister lan village in Jagraon sub division of Ludhiana died Sukhjinder Singh of Fatehabad in Tarn Taran dis- social and psychological factors involved. It is there
in the SAD-BJP government had been trolled for his on June 29 due to drug overdose. His body was cre- trict died on June 6 due to drug-overdose. His wife told for quite some years as apparently little was done by
alleged involvement in the drug addiction problem mated on July 2. Police found a spoon, a cigarette that “earlier he used to only drink, but after coming in the previous government. We have set up a Special
in the state. During his campaign and later after tak- lighter and a syringe near the body, which was ap- contact with some smugglers of Fatehabad and Goin- Task Force which choked the supply chain. Some
ing over reins of power in Punjab, Capt Amarinder parent evidence that he was doing drugs before he dwal Sahib, he started taking drugs”. She said that his anti-social elements seem to be taking advantage of
Singh-led Congress government had promised last died. His wife Harpreet informed that her husband body was found in the house of a smuggler in Goind- such situation by indulging in supply of some deadly
year to wipe out drugs from Punjab. But the situa- was admitted to a private de-addiction center in Ra- wal Sahib, “with a syringe still in his vein”.
tion seems to have further worsened. Punjab Health soolra village in Khanna for more than two months Kamal Kant Maheshwari of Rama in Bathinda

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