The death of 35-year-old Daljit Singh in Punjab’s Mansa district, allegedly due to drug overdose, triggered a confrontation between protesters and police on Monday, with opposition leaders launching a sharp attack on the Bhagwant Mann government over the handling of his body.
The family alleged that Daljit went to Mansa on Monday morning to buy drugs and that his body was later found in the fields near Ramanandi. Family members and residents of Bhamme Kalan village, where Singh was from, were attempting to take his body to the site where protests against the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa were taking place. Police allegedly blocked their route by parking vehicles and trucks on the road. Chaudhary clarified that the police would not perform Singh’s last rites and that further action would be taken only after obtaining the family’s consent. Targeting Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann months ahead of elections in the state, he alleged that taking away the body was an assault on the man’s dignity and a violation of the family’s grief. “What greater injustice could there be than this? Badal asked, accusing the government of causing further distress to a bereaved family by taking away the body. Relatives also questioned the state government’s claims about its campaign against drugs, arguing that young people are continuing to lose their lives.
On the protest in Mansa, Chaudhary said the ongoing sit-in was peaceful and the police would not take any action at the protest site. Congress leader Raja Brar described the alleged police action as “shameful and inhuman” and accused the Mansa police of taking Daljit Singh’s body away from his grieving family. “Punjab’s drug crisis is claiming young lives, and now @mansa_police has snatched the body of 35-year-old Daljit Singh from his grieving family and fled with it,” Brar said in a social media post. The family has demanded the immediate arrest of those supplying drugs and said its protest would continue until action was taken.
