Punjab Drug Crisis: Mother's Anguish Clashes with Police, AAP Claims
In a heart-wrenching incident from Sultanpur Lodhi town in Kapurthala district, police and health officials on Monday took critically ailing drug addict Sonu, aged 32, to the hospital. This action followed widespread news reports detailing the family's dire plight, after Sonu's parents revealed on Sunday that their four other sons had already died due to addiction, and he too was on his deathbed.
Mother's Desperate Plea and Police Response
Sonu was referred to Amritsar Government Medical College for advanced treatment, but the case has sparked a heated controversy. The governing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Kapurthala Police issued near-identical statements on Monday, dismissing the woman's anguish as a "hue and cry." They claimed that a "field verification" had revealed her four sons died due to different reasons, including one from addiction and another in jail in a drugs case.
However, Sonu's mother, Manjit Kaur, vehemently insisted that all her dead sons were addicted to "Chitta" (drugs), and so is her fifth son. When police arrived at Pandori Mohalla of Sultanpur Lodhi town on Monday to conduct a search operation, Manjit Kaur and other women approached them, expressing their anger and anguish over the alleged easy supply of drugs in the area.
Community Outcry and De-addiction Efforts
During the confrontation, three young addicts were handed over by their families to police on the spot to get them admitted to de-addiction centers. Manjit Kaur revealed that one of them was her nephew. "Another young relative of ours, who is also an addict, locked himself in the bathroom and said that he would go to the de-addiction centre later," she told reporters.
In the presence of police officials, Manjit Kaur tearfully declared, "Now, police are helping me. I shall speak out the names of those who come from outside and those who live in our mohalla and sell drugs. They have made our mohalla a hell. I shall not allow further sale of drugs in my locality. I shall shout from the rooftops about drug peddlers so that other women don't lose their sons to addiction like me."
Police and AAP Dispute the Claims
Kapurthala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gaurav Toora contested her allegations, providing a detailed account. "The deaths of her four sons happened over eight years: one died eight years back due to alleged drug overdose; one died seven years back due to fire/burn injuries; one died seven years back in jail (had two criminal cases with one case of NDPS Act registered against him); and the fourth died two years back due to alleged liver failure (chronic alcoholic)," he stated.
SSP Toora added, "Now, one son is suffering from multiple health hazards. He has one case registered under NDPS Act in which he was arrested in 2023 with recovery of a narcotic substance. Moreover, he was convicted in the same NDPS Act case on Nov 29, 2025. He is a drug abuser and was enrolled into an OOAT centre for de-addiction treatment, wherein he was administered medicine on March 30."
He further emphasized, "No recent drug deaths have been reported in the said area. Police have proactively registered four cases under NDPS Act with arrest of active drug peddlers in the same mohalla in the past few days only."
AAP Echoes Police Version
AAP echoed the SSP's version, with state general secretary and "Yudh Nashean Virudh" chief spokesperson Baltej Pannu alleging that the situation "has been misrepresented." He claimed, "No recent drug deaths have been reported in the area. The attempt to portray this as a single, recent drug-related tragedy is misleading and not supported by facts."
Mother's Persistent Account and Other Testimonies
When asked again on Monday, Manjit Kaur insisted that "Chitta" (drugs) was the primary reason behind the death of her four sons. She explained, "The one who died due to fire was also an addict and had started smoking. He went to an upstairs room after consuming drugs. We came to know in the morning that smoke was coming out of the room. He probably died as he dozed off while smoking, and his bed cover caught fire. We only found his charred body. My son who died in jail, was also an addict and was arrested in a drug-related case. He died during the lockdown. My youngest son, Mithu, who died around two years back, was also addicted and had started consuming alcohol."
Another woman in the mohalla, Charanjit Kaur, supported these claims, saying she had lost her two sons to drug addiction—one seven years ago, and the other around three years back. "My elder son was married and had two kids. I still have the video of when he was found dead in Dec. The younger one, who was unmarried, died in a hospital. Our women have been weeping. Supply of Chitta has not stopped. Our boys bring it from some other place, and it is also being supplied here," she alleged.
