Heroin is sold here: Bathinda villagers write message for police and administration

Published on: 01 Dec 2025 at 01:35 PM

Published by: Fact News

Fact News Service

Chandigarh, December 1: Fed up with alleged rampant sale of heroin, several residents of Maur Kalan in Bathinda have painted “chitta is sold openly here” message on village walls, pointing towards the houses of alleged drug peddlers.

After learning about it, a police team rushed to the village and painted over the wall writings.

This comes days after a youth died of a suspected drug overdose in the village. Before this, another youth by the name of Sukhwinder Singh had died due to drug overdose a few days after Diwali.

Two women from the village, Manjit Kaur and Krishna, alleged that the open sale of heroin had destroyed many young lives. “Several youths have already fallen prey to addiction. Girls are becoming widows at a young age. Women are running households alone while their sons are dying,” Krishna said.

Some residents also raised slogans against the district administration and the police, claiming that the government’s ongoing campaign against drugs — Yudh Nashian Virudh —has failed to make any impact in their village.

Maur police has denied the accusations. The police, they say, have acted tough against drug peddlers in the past. Two accused were arrested recently after the youngster’s death and they are currently in jail.

In Maur village alone, 23 cases have been registered under the NDPS Act. Since March 1, 43 arrests have been made from this village. Five people have been admitted to de-addiction centres while others have been sent to outpatient opioid assisted treatment (OOAT) centres.”

residents often complained that drug peddlers, after securing bail, returned to illegal activities.
The police has appealed to the public not to stand surety for drug peddlers. They get bail from courts because only small quantities of drugs are recovered from them.

Interestingly, about 70-odd anti-drug committees had been formed in the villages of Bathinda to keep a check on those selling drugs. These would hold ‘thikri pehra’ to ensure that no drug suppliers enter the village, but some of these stopped functioning ever since and things are back to a square one.