Angry over the alleged ‘chitta’ overdose death of a 32-year-old man in Punjab’s Muktsar, the deceased’s family members and residents of his native village staged a protest along with the body outside a suspected peddler’s house for 36 hours, demanding the structure be bulldozed.Manpreet Singh, a resident of Harike Kalan village who had completed an NTT teaching diploma following his graduation, died allegedly of a ‘chitta’ overdose on Thursday night. The protesters demanded tough action against the suspected peddler under the Punjab Government’s ongoing ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ campaign as well as against police officials for their alleged failure to check the menace.Jagmeet Singh, the elder brother of the deceased, claimed that a syringe was found stuck in Manpreet’s arm. The police registered a case against five persons, including a woman, and arrested several of them. Following this, the protesters dispersed on Saturday morning and agreed to allow the post-mortem.Muktsar SSP Abhimanyu Rana said a case had been registered, and that they were also verifying the allegations against police personnel.Manpreet was among the three persons who died due to suspected ‘chitta’ overdose in Muktsar and Bathinda districts this week, with the police registering FIRs in all cases and arresting some of the accused. Two more suspected drug deaths have been reported in Fazilka and Muktsar districts, though the families did not lodge a complaint.On Monday, 21-year-old Rajveer Singh of Kotbhai village in Muktsar had died of suspected ‘chitta’ overdose. His father alleged that despite repeated treatment, the easy availability of drugs led to his relapse.In another incident, 20-year-old Yash died after allegedly consuming ‘chitta’ at Raman Mandi in Bathinda on Tuesday. Acting on a complaint by his mother, the police booked four persons and arrested three, including a woman.