‘Police action against peddlers could have saved 28-year-old’

Ludhiana: Death of a 28-year-old man due to suspected drug overdose on Tuesday night could have been averted if the police had acted in time on the complaints of residents of Bhagat Singh Nagar, Dhandra Road.
The incident has also raised a question mark over the tall claims of police of special drives against drugs. Blaming police for his death, locals rued that around five months ago they had given a written complaint Dugri and Sadar SHOs, seeking immediate action against drug peddlers. When cops “failed to respond”, residents nabbed some of the peddlers and handed them over to the police. “But cops set them free within a few hours and they continued to operate in the area,” said a resident.
A team of the TOI visited the area and found that the locals had formed a 11-member Ekta Welfare Society to curb the menace. A committee member said, “There are five to six youths and some women, too, who openly sell drugs in the locality. To save our children, we formed the society and also started night pehra (vigilance). However, many people backed out after three to four months. We also got some CCTV cameras installed outside houses to keep a check on activities of suspicious persons. We wrote to the police for help in our drive. Every time we nab a peddler, cops release him.”
Another resident complained that the approach of the police has badly affected the drive. “We not only gave tip-offs, but also details of several peddlers. Because of this drive we earned their enmity and now fear being targeted,” said a local, requesting anonymity.
The residents also showed several videos of peddlers selling drugs and claimed that the cops were in the know of it. “They cannot operate without the protection of the police. Cops know where drugs are being sold and who all are involved. The 28-year-old man could have been saved if the police had acted on our complaints,” a resident said.
Sadar police station SHO inspector Sukhdev Singh said, “Even as the family has not lodged a police complaint, residents have raised the issue of drug menace in their area. Cops have tied up with residents to curb the scourge. With the help of residents, drug peddlers will be arrested soon.”
‘Police drives eyewash’
Ludhiana police have launched a special drive to curb drug menace in the city. All SHOs have been directed to nab peddlers in their respective areas and get addicts admitted to deaddiction centres. A resident of Bhagat Singh Nagar said, “Several such drives have been launched by the police over the years. But they have completely failed in their job. All these drives are merely eyewash to impress top officers and the ground reality is entirely different.”
‘Cops know it all, but don’t act’
The 28-year-old man’s mother said her son was a drug addict. “He started taking drugs around one-and-a-half years ago. When we came to know of it, we got him admitted to a de-addiction centre. After returning from the centre, he was not doing drugs. For the past five months, he was at home. We would not allow him to go out alone, fearing he might again get caught in the drug trap.”
On Tuesday evening, he left home, saying he had back pain and was going to get medicines. “He returned home minutes later and went to the washroom. When he did not come out for long, I knocked on the door many a time. On receiving no response, we broke open the door and found him lying on the floor with a syringe in his arm. He was dead. I didn’t know he had gone out to get drugs, as he had quit it,” she added.
Refusing to lodge a police complaint, she said, “Where were cops when drugs were being sold here? Police know everything. Many times, cops come to our locality, nab peddlers, but release them within hours.”
Autopsy will ascertain cause of death: Top cop
Commissioner of police Sukhchain Singh Gill said, “Only autopsy or viscera report can ascertain if the man died of drugs. If the family is not ready to complain or get autopsy done, then we can’t force them. Recently, a man died in Mallakpur and it was said that he died of drugs. But his viscera report revealed that drugs were not the killer.”
Assuring stern action, he added, “We will crackdown on drug peddlers. In the past 10 days, the city police have registered nearly 40 cases under the NDPS Act and arrested the accused too. We have identified vulnerable areas in the city and officials concerned have been directed to act strictly.”