Grief turns to action: Jalandhar village confronts buyers of ‘chitta’, peddlers; 4 arrested

Jalandhar: The death of a family's fifth son to drug addiction has jolted Talwandi Madho village into action, galvanising residents to take on the menace themselves. Though the village falls in Jalandhar district, it lies barely 13km from Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala.The youth, who died and was cremated on Wednesday, was from Pandori Mohalla in Sultanpur Lodhi. Within hours of his death, villagers began stopping and confronting suspected peddlers and addicts moving to and from neighbouring Lattianwal village in Kapurthala, long suspected to be a supply point. A few videos recorded by residents show youths admitting to buying ‘chitta' (heroin) from there.By the end of the day, four people had been arrested and 25 admitted top a de-addiction centre in Sultanpur Lodhi.Led by sarpanch Malkiat Kaur, her husband Amrik Singh, and other panchayat members, a large section of the village joined the vigilante-style checks. Police reached the spot on Wednesday after Amrik contacted Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal, who alerted senior officials and shared videos from the ground. Police officials from both Jalandhar and Kapurthala went to the village. "Though the problem existed, it worsened from Nov last year. Peddlers even started coming to our village to supply drugs. We had already been discussing how to tackle this to save our youngsters. Peddlers would sometimes travel on their two-wheelers while carrying women and children along. Fields of our village were being used by peddlers and addicts alike. The tragedy at Sultanpur Lodhi has become a trigger for us to launch our action without any delay. We laid nakas from 7pm till 11pm on Tuesday, and then again started these at 7am on Wednesday," Amrik told TOI.When villagers stopped a Mahindra Scorpio at 10pm on Tuesday, four youths travelling in it revealed that they came from Nakodar to get their doses of ‘chitta' from Lattianwal, revealed a video. They told the villagers their names and addresses. In another video, two persons on a motorcycle said they were returning from work to their village, and bought ‘chitta' en route.A youth from Bahmanian village even showed the drug in a small white envelope, which he bought at Lattianwal. Another youth from Nakodar cried when he was stopped in Talwandi Madho and said he was caught in the "dirt of drugs". He was accompanied by another addict who appeared to be standing remorsefully with folded hands.When contacted, Seechewal confirmed he had sent the videos to senior officials in Kapurthala. Five youths even came from Jagraon in Ludhiana district to buy chitta from Lattianwal.When contacted, Shahkot DSP Sukhpal Singh Randhawa called the checks a joint operation by Shahkot and Sultanpur Lodhi police, carried out with the help of villagers. "A peddler and three addicts who are also peddle drugs are being booked," he informed.Sultanpur Lodhi ASP Dhirendra Verma said over 25 addicts had been admitted at a de-addiction centre of Sultanpur Lodhi during the day and police would work on the information provided by them about the suppliers. "Further operations would continue in Lattianwal," he said.