Amritsar man dies of drug overdose, 3 friends booked

Three men were booked for culpable homicide after a 35-year-old man died of drug overdose in Balia village here on Sunday. It was alleged that the victim was forcibly

Three men were booked for culpable homicide after a 35-year-old man died of drug overdose in Balia village here on Sunday. It was alleged that the victim was forcibly injected with drugs.

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The victim, Jatinder Singh, was a labourer. Singh is survived by his wife of 15 years and two sons. His wife, Amandeep Kaur, 34, claimed that his friends Charanjit Singh, Prince and Raju of the same village, had forcibly administered drugs to her husband.

Kaur said, “On Saturday night, Charanjit and Raju picked up my husband from our house. When my husband did not return, I tried to find him but to no avail. Later, I learnt that the duo had taken my husband to Prince’s house. When I reached there, I found my husband unconscious with an injection stuck in his vein. The accused were nowhere to be found.”

“I rushed my husband to a private hospital but he was declared brought dead,” said Kaur, adding that her husband was not an addict. “My husband only had alcohol and had never taken drugs. The accused, however, are known drug addicts and they forcibly injected my husband with drugs,” Kaur said in her statement to the police.

She also held the police accountable for her husband’s death. “Drugs are easily available in the area. Had the police arrested the peddlers, perhaps my husband would not have died,” she said, demanding that the government take strict action against peddlers.

Sub-inspector (SI) Tarlok Singh of Jandiala police station said, “We have booked the accused under Section 304 (culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).”