Youth succumbs to drug overdose

Jalandhar : As Udta Punjab was released today after much controversy, a 21-year-old Gujjar youth from Mallewal village in Balachaur died of drug overdose.The deceased, Manjinder, was a matriculate and had reportedly quit drugs about a year back and was working as a mechanic in Ludhiana.On Wednesday evening, he visited his native place and had left home after taking Rs 500 from his father Om Narain to go back to Ludhiana. Instead, he went with his two friends in a car and reportedly took some drugs again. As his condition worsened, his friends dumped him in the fields at Garhshankar and fled. The family kept looking for him till they found his body yesterday. After an autopsy, he was cremated this afternoon.SHO Baljeet Singh said, “The boy had reportedly taken some drugs and died of an overdose. A case has been registered against the two boys who had accompanied him.”Om Narain, a driver in Ludhiana, said, “As Manjinder was about to leave the day before, two of his friends came and said that they too were going to Ludhiana and offered him a lift. Later, we kept calling Manjinder to confirm if he had reached but there was no response on his phone. Worried, we began looking for him and found his body at Garhshankar yesterday.”