More than two weeks after four Punjab youths, reportedly admitted to a private de-addiction and rehabilitation centre at Rori village in Haryana’s Sirsa district, died in a road accident in Bathinda district, no arrests have been made so far.The victims were travelling in a car that crashed into a tree near Sandoha village on the Maur-Talwandi Sabo road on March 21. An FIR was registered at the Maur police station on March 22 following a complaint by the father of one of the deceased. The police booked Ranjit Singh of Sooch village in Bathinda, Arun Kumar of Ratia in Haryana, and some unidentified associates under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the BNS.Talking to The Tribune, Sukhwinder Singh, father of Balpreet Singh (26) from Dhanaula village in Barnala, alleged negligence by the rehabilitation centre. “My son had gone to the UK on a work permit and developed a drug addiction there. He was married. When we came to know about it, we called him back and admitted him to the Rori centre on February 6. We were paying Rs 10,000 per month, excluding food. We were shocked to learn that he had left the centre and died in a road accident. This happened due to the centre’s negligence. We demand immediate arrests and have met police officials several times,” he said.The other deceased were identified as Harpreet Singh and Gursimran Singh from Mansa, and Jashandeep Singh from Moga. Balpreet, Harpreet and Gursimran died on the spot, while Jashandeep succumbed to injuries at a private hospital in Bathinda. A fifth occupant, Amandeep Singh of Maur Kalan village, survived.Investigating officer Sub-Inspector Sukhpal Singh of Maur police station said raids were underway to arrest the accused. “The accused had applied for anticipatory bail, but their pleas have been rejected,” he added.Earlier, Anil Kumar, SHO of Rori police station in Haryana, said a joint team of police and health department officials had inspected the centre. “The facility is owned by Dr Parveen, who holds a valid licence for a de-addiction centre. He claimed the deceased were not linked to his centre and that the building had been rented out to Ranjit, who was running a rehabilitation facility there. No patients were found during the inspection,” he said.Rori village is located near the Punjab-Haryana border.


