Harman Sidhu and four others were arrested in Sirsa, Haryana, for possessing 52.1 grams of heroin, worth around Rs 5.20 lakh.
New Delhi: Harman Sidhu, a Punjabi singer who once wrote a song warning people against ‘chitta’ (heroin), has been arrested for the possession of the same drug.
Sidhu and four others were arrested by the Crime Investigation Agency in Sirsa, Haryana.
“A total of 52.1 grams of heroin, which is worth around Rs 5.20 lakh, was found when the police investigated the Honda City in which the five were travelling,” said Dhale Ram, the inspector in charge of the CIA, according to The Times of India.
Sidhu, who hails from the Mansa district of Punjab, was accompanied by Ramnik Singh, a patwari (revenue officer) in Mansa, as well as Surjit Singh, Manoj Kumar and Anurag, all from. A case has been filed against them under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Sidhu is accused of supplying the drug in Mansa, while the police confirmed that all five are heroin addicts. “They were coming from Delhi after getting their supply from Delhi. Some of them consumed drugs while Harman used to sell the drug in Mansa,” a CIA official told a local news outlet.
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The song
His 2015 song ‘Chitta’, which was popular in Punjab, spoke about the ill-effects of the drug on the youth of the state, and blamed it for destroying the culture of Punjab.
Sidhu’s song went against the grain of Punjabi music, which is infamous for glorifying alcohol, guns and objectifying women. The Punjab Police has had to resort to warning singers against promoting a liquor and gun culture.
Punjab’s ‘chitta’ problem
Punjab has been in the grips of a drug problem for years now. According to a 2015 study conducted by the union ministry of social justice and empowerment, ‘chitta’ (heroin adulterated with other white powders) was the most common drug, consumed by 53 per cent of the drug addicts surveyed.
Easy availability of drugs, unemployment and a nexus between drug smugglers and law enforcement agencies have been cited as reasons for the persistent problem.
Ahead of the 2017 elections, Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh had promised to remove the evil from Punjab within four weeks, taking an oath with his hand on the Gutka Sahib (a holy book in Sikhism). However, a year and a half into his term as chief minister, the number of deaths due to ‘chitta’ consumption have witnessed a surge.
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