Ludhiana: Battling drug addiction, 26-year-old man shoots self to death

According to police, the man locked himself in his room and shot himself, pointing the rifle on his heart.

A 26-year-old man shot himself to death at his residence in Machhiwara, around 40km from Ludhiana, on Thursday morning after he was frustrated over not being able to get drugs over the last couple of days, said police.

The deceased was identified as Jai Singh (Representative Image)

The deceased was identified as Jai Singh. He shot himself with a licensed rifle of his father Jaswinder Singh, who is an ex-serviceman. The victim’s mother, Manpreet Kaur, claimed herself as a president of Mahila Brigade Congress but Ravneet Bittu, Ludhiana MP denied her involvement with the party as he said no such body is part of the Congress.

ASI Santokh Singh, investigating officer said that deceased’s mother Manpreet Kaur had gone to Anandpur Sahib to consult doctors as she wanted to admit her son in a de-addiction centre. Jai’s sisiter, his wife and two-year-old daughter left the house around 9.15am to visit a religious place in the village. Jai and his father Jaswinder were in the house, said the officer.

As per the statement of the family members, Jai had been a drug addict for a long time and for the last few days he was not allowed to go out as they wanted to keep him away from drug peddlers.

Asking Punjab chief minister about the drug menace in the state, his mother repeatedly kept saying, “Captian saab nasha band kado hovega te kado tak mava de puttar nashiya karan marde rehnge (Captain sahab! When will the drug trade stop and till when our sons keep dying because of drugs).

She said the family left no stone unturned to treat their son’s drug addiction, but despite the restrictions, he used to sneak out and get drugs from the peddlers in Machhiwara.