Wannabe cops in Haryana running on steroids, 3 dead

Third drug cheat has died in a week of Haryana Police recruitment drive here, so far, and 100-odd have been moved to hospital.

Third drug cheat has died in a week of Haryana Police recruitment drive in Kurukshetra, so far, and 100-odd have been moved to hospital.

On June 24, overdosing on performance-enhancing drugs during the selection process had killed a candidate each from Hisar and Bhiwani. (Photo: Shutterstock)

The latest victim, Bhupinder Singh of Sonepat’s Kathura village, collapsed during a fitness test on Wednesday morning. From the Kurukshetra civil hospital, he was moved to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh, where he died that night. On June 24, overdosing on performance-enhancing drugs during the selection process had killed a candidate each from Hisar and Bhiwani.

The recruitment of constables began on June 15 at Kurukshetra Police Lines and will go on till July 3. Sources in the civil hospital confirmed the cause of three deaths. Kurukshetra civil surgeon Dr SK Nain told HT about the continuous flow of candidates with “suspected drug overdose and symptoms of vomiting and psychotic behaviour”. “Most of these youths,” he said, “have overdosed on Amphetamine, Deca-Durabolin and Mephentermine — which are performanceenhancing steroids for better endurance level — and some had also taken opium.”

He said autopsy report would give more details of the killer drugs but symptoms suggested these were cheap versions of narcotics. A staff selection commission official monitoring the recruitment process said: “We don’t have the facility and men to do 15,000 dope tests every day and 2 lakh over the entire campaign.”