Residents of Boot start drive to shed ‘drug village’ tag

KAPURTHALA: The panchayat and some local residents of Boot village, branded as “village of drug addicts” in the district, are trying to wash off the tag and improve its image.

Panchayat members have started keeping a vigil against smugglers and addicts in cooperation with the police. As a result, the district police have arrested 12 people and recovered 500 gm heroin, around 130 injections, 1,600 tablets and capsules besides some other banned substances from them during the past 15 days. A former panchayat member, Dr Balwinder Singh, said that villagers handed over two drug peddlers to the police Saturday. They had come to the village to sell heroin to local youths.

“We admitted around 10 youths to a de-addiction centre during the past 15 days. They are under treatment,” said Singh.

Residents said that the village became notorious after police registered 47 FIRS under the NDPS Act from the village in 2014. Badshahpur police post in-charge Nirwair Singh said now most of the drug peddlers from the village are behind bars and addicts in the de-addiction centre.

This became possible after local panchayat members cooperated with the police to improve the image of the village. “12 drug peddlers have been arrested during the past 15 days from the village while 29 people were booked under the NDPS Act,” Nirwair told the HT.