AI Generated Summary
- Now, only Balwinder’s wife remains at their home in Nihale Wala village, a stone’s throw from the Indo-Pakistan border — alone, in the shadow of a family destroyed by drugs.
- As Punjab grapples with the fallout of a crisis that is both social and criminal, the need for targeted rehabilitation, employment programs, and stronger border surveillance has never been more urgent.
- When police arrested 55-year-old Charanjit Kaur, known locally as Channo Bai, and her 30-year-old son Balwinder Singh, alias Babbu, on July 6 for heroin smuggling, it marked yet another chapter in a grim and unfolding crisis.
When police arrested 55-year-old Charanjit Kaur, known locally as Channo Bai, and her 30-year-old son Balwinder Singh, alias Babbu, on July 6 for heroin smuggling, it marked yet another chapter in a grim and unfolding crisis: the entanglement of entire families in Punjab’s border regions in the narcotics trade.
The duo was caught with 1.8 kilograms of heroin and two mobile phones, but their involvement in the illicit trade was no surprise to authorities. Channo Bai’s younger son, Sukhwinder Singh, is already behind bars for similar offences, while her husband, also reportedly a part of the drug network, died some time ago. Now, only Balwinder’s wife remains at their home in Nihale Wala village, a stone’s throw from the Indo-Pakistan border — alone, in the shadow of a family destroyed by drugs.
This family is not an outlier. Police say smuggling has become a generational enterprise in some border villages, with entire households implicated in narcotics cases. In Nihale Wala itself, another family — that of Lal Singh — is under investigation. Lal, his wife Kaushalya Bai, their sons Joginder (alias Shammi) and Sonu, and even their daughter, have all faced charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. According to officials, a staggering 38 cases have been registered against members of this single family. Recently, Lal Singh’s nephew Kuldeep was also arrested with heroin in his possession.
Just a few kilometers away in Chandiwala village, police seized nearly 3 kilograms of heroin from two brothers, Gurpreet Singh (20) and Sarabjit Singh (18), in June. In Zira, Sonu (24) and Vishal (21) were caught with 1.5 kilograms of heroin and over ₹12 lakh in suspected drug money.
According to Ferozepur Senior Superintendent of Police Bhupinder Singh, desperation often drives families to take part in this high-risk, low-reward underworld. “Employment opportunities here are practically nonexistent,” he said. “For families with no steady income and little land, smuggling becomes a means of survival. But these people are just pawns — they don’t know where the drugs come from or where they’re going. By the time they understand the danger, the damage is already done.”
The trend has taken a particularly disturbing turn with the increasing involvement of women. Seen as less suspicious, women are often coerced into becoming drug couriers — sometimes unwittingly. Punjab State Women Commission Chairperson Raj Lali Gill, during a recent visit to the region, raised alarm over the growing number of women in jail for drug offences. “Most told me they had no idea what they were carrying. Many were forced or manipulated into it,” she said.
The human cost is staggering. Judge Singh (56), a resident of Guruharsahai, lost both his sons — Love (19) and Raj Kumar (22) — to drug overdoses. In Basti Shekhan, Charan Kaur mourns the loss of her husband and son, both victims of addiction.
A retired police officer who spent decades in the border belt offered a stark analogy. “Life here moves like the tail end of a canal — employment and hope trickle down to nothing. Families don’t have enough land to sustain themselves. Once one member is involved in smuggling, others follow — either to feed their family, pay legal fees, or out of fear from the cartels.”
As Punjab grapples with the fallout of a crisis that is both social and criminal, the need for targeted rehabilitation, employment programs, and stronger border surveillance has never been more urgent. Without intervention, the fields of Punjab’s border villages may continue to yield not crops, but casualties.
