8 days after 2 deaths, another youth loses drug battle in Kapurthala

Bholath (Kapurthala): Another drug addict from Raipur Araiyan village in Kapurthala, where two young addicts had died on April 9, was found dead at his sister's house in nearby Bagrian village.Former sarpanch Stephen said the deceased, Samuel alias Sunny, in his early 30s, was addicted to drugs and his family had been planning to admit him to a de-addiction centre at Kapurthala civil hospital. He had been staying at his sister's house for the past few days."The family suspects he died after taking a drug dose," Stephen said.Samuel's brother-in-law Raman said they found him unconscious and rushed him to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.On April 9, two addicts, Balbir Singh Billa and Shali, had died in the same village. "We were attending a prayer meeting for Shali when we got the news that Samuel had died," Stephen said.Following a complaint by Shali's father, police registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against four youths.Earlier, on April 7, another addict, Sonu (32), died at Govt Medical College, Amritsar. His parents had said four of their other sons had already died due to addiction. That youth too was from Kapurthala district, where he lived in Sultanpur Lodhi.