Bathinda man found dead with syringe in arm, a day after 'chitta hi chitta' found written on village wall
PTC Web Desk: A 32-year-old man was found dead with a syringe still stuck in his arm in Bathinda city, a day after the words 'chitta hi chitta' appeared on a wall in Doomwali village of the same district. The incident has once again raised serious concerns about the spread of drugs in the region.
It comes at a time when protests are underway in Mansa over the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, which has brought Punjab’s drug problem back into public debate.
The deceased has been identified as Ramesh Kumar, a daily-wage labourer from Pars Ram Nagar. He was found unconscious in Gali No. 29 of the area late at night. Volunteers of the Naujawan Welfare Society reached the spot with an ambulance after being alerted, but he had already died. A syringe was still in his arm and his motorcycle was parked nearby. Society members informed the police and took the body to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem.
Additional SHO of Canal Colony police station, ASI Jaswinder Singh, said a case has been registered against two men, identified as Buta Singh and Biru, on the basis of a tip-off. Both already have criminal cases against them and raids are on to arrest them. The family’s statements are yet to be recorded, the police said.
Sources said Ramesh had recently been admitted to a de-addiction centre by his family. He is survived by his elderly parents, wife and two daughters, aged about 7 and 5. His wife and sister-in-law work as domestic help.
The incident drew sharp criticism of the state government from Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
In a post on X, Sukhbir Singh Badal said under Bhagwant Mann’s leadership, such heart-wrenching scenes were becoming Punjab’s identity, which he called completely unacceptable. He said the government must be held accountable if drug trafficking is not stopped.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the incident reflected the pain of an ordinary Punjabi family. She alleged that the supply of synthetic drugs had risen sharply and that the nexus between police, administration and traffickers had grown stronger. She asked how many more mothers would lose their sons before the AAP government wakes up.
On Sunday, the police carried out a cordon and search operation (CASO) in the village and claimed to have recovered 10 gram of heroin and 165 pregabalin capsules. Four persons were arrested and six were detained. An earlier search drive had also been conducted in the village on October 10, led by DIG Harjit Singh, SSP Suhail Qasim Mir and ADC Kanchan.
- PTC NEWS
