CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government’s Yudh Nashe Virudh campaign has come under scrutiny after a mother from Ludhiana claimed that all six of her sons died due to the drug chitta over the past 13 years, while the police maintain that five of the deaths were due to alcoholism and related illnesses and only one was linked to drugs.
The woman’s youngest son, 20-year-old Jasvir Singh, was found dead near a canal a few days ago. The grieving mother, Shinder Kaur of Sherewal village in Ludhiana district, now lives with her daughter-in-law and grandson.
Recounting a decade of unimaginable losses, Kaur, who survives on a widow’s pension of Rs 1,500 per month given by the state government, said she has been cremating her sons for the past 13 years. She lost her husband, Mukhtyar Singh, in 2012 in a road accident, as he was a drunkard.
Kaur said her first son, 34-year-old Kulwant Singh, died due to drugs in 2013. In March 2021, she lost another son, Gurdeep Singh. In July the same year, Jaswant Singh died.
In January 2022, Raju Singh passed away, followed by Baljeet Singh in March 2023. Now, her youngest son Jasvir Singh’s body was found in Sidhwan Bet. She alleged that he died due to a drug overdose.
Criticising the state government’s Yudh Nashe Virudh campaign, Kaur said,
“Those selling drugs are apprehended but are later released. The sale of ‘chitta’ is going on unchecked. Our request is that authorities should take action against such peddlers. Thus other families are saved from this pain. We lost our family due to the drug menace.”
Out of the six sons, two were married and four were unmarried. Jaswant Singh and Raju Singh were married. The family lives in a three-room house in the village.
Her daughter-in-law, Paramjit Kaur, wife of deceased Raju Singh, works as a daily wager. She has a 12-year-old son and a daughter who is married. She claimed that all the brothers of her husband died due to the drug menace.
“They were all daily wagers and at times gave money home and at times not. Despite being told not to take drugs and leave this menace, they did not listen,” she said, adding that her son is not studying and for the past six months has been learning and working at a cloth shop in the area.
Paramjit Kaur said that Jaswant Singh’s wife no longer lives with them and moved to her parents’ place with her son after her husband’s death.
“My father-in-law and other brothers of my deceased husband, including him, all were daily labourers. The money we earn daily is just able to meet our ends meet. We get atta and other essentials,” she said, adding that her mother-in-law receives the widow’s pension.
Locals have staged protests demanding action against drug peddlers.
Meanwhile, police sources said that Mukhtyar Singh died in a road accident as he was alcoholic. Two of her sons allegedly died due to liver ailments. One son went into depression after his wife left him, began drinking heavily and later died.
Another son also died as he was alcoholic. The youngest son who recently died was also allegedly due to consumption of liquor. According to the police, only one of her sons, Raju Singh, died due to the drug menace.
When contacted, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ludhiana (Rural), Ankur Gupta said, “We promptly registered a case of culpable homicide against two people, including a woman, and one arrest has been made. We are investigating the matter and action will be taken as per law.”