A series of suspected drug overdose deaths in Kapurthala — with victims mostly being poor workers or farmers and often egged on by friends or relatives — has raised fresh questions over the state of drug addiction in the district. At least three such cases have been reported in the past month. Two of them involved men allegedly being called from their homes by friends or relatives, only to be abandoned at secluded places and left to die.Nishan Singh (30), a father of two sons and a resident of Khukhrain village, is the latest victim. He was found unconscious outside the Civil Hospital, Kapurthala, on Saturday. He was admitted for treatment but died later the same day.The deceased’s sister, Sandeep Kaur, said Nishan, a resident of Baba Namdev Colony, worked as a dyer and was addicted to alcohol. His wife and two sons had left him owing to his alcohol and drug addiction.On Saturday evening, a village resident posted as a security guard at the Civil Hospital informed Sandeep that her brother had died at the hospital. According to witnesses, Nishan was found lying unconscious outside the hospital and was admitted for treatment but fled after regaining consciousness. Sometime later, he was brought back in an unconscious state and died during treatment soon after. His body was handed over to the family.On August 27, the Kapurthala police also exhumed the body of Amandeep Singh (25), a resident of Desal village, following a complaint by his family. Missing since August 14, Amandeep allegedly died of a suspected drug overdose after being administered drugs by his friends 14 days ago. The accused allegedly abandoned him and buried his body in fields the next day after finding him dead. Two persons have been arrested in the case, while a third has been nominated.In a third case, similar to Amandeep’s, the body of 30-year-old Rinku, a native of Talan Tanda village in Hoshiarpur and a resident of Wariana Colony in Jalandhar, was found abandoned in a jungle near Fattu Dhinga Chungi in Kapurthala on July 26. He was suspected to have died of a drug overdose.Rinku’s relatives told the police that on July 24, his relative Chinda took him from his house on the pretext of going to their village home in Talan Tanda. While Chinda returned that evening, Rinku did not.During the investigation, it surfaced that the two allegedly consumed drugs at the spot, after which Rinku fell unconscious and was abandoned by Chinda, who fled the spot. Rinku was the father of three daughters, a worker and the sole breadwinner of his family.A case under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, pertaining to causing death by negligence, was registered against Chinda at the Kapurthala City police station.SSP Kapurthala Gaurav Toora said, “The drug overdose issue is caused by a very convoluted set of problems. Overdoses are in cases where the victim is in an advanced stage of heroin, or other cocktails, addiction from where there is no coming back, when the preliminary, critical time for treatment is over. Plus, many lethal drug cocktails are being consumed by groups of users, amongst buddies, often indulging in intravenous use. Families are often mute spectators who fail to approach treatment in time.”Many overdose deaths go unreported: Health expertDr Sandeep Bhola, State Programme Officer, Mental Health and De-addiction, Punjab, who heads the drug de-addiction centre at Kapurthala, said drug overdose was a completely different entity from regular drug addiction treatment.“Most cases of overdose deaths are not reported to us. Many victims are cremated hurriedly, fearing stigma or a police case. An average of one to two cases are reported per month in Kapurthala. Many seek treatment privately, and private hospitals are not sending us the data,” he said.Explaining the risks, Dr Bhola said that during a shortage of drugs in the market, users often rely on cocktails that could prove fatal. “Fentanyl, which is a much stronger opioid compared to heroin, is mixed with other opioids. Unaware of safe compositions or ratios of opioids, addicts mix them into fatal combinations,” he said.He added that those who resumed drug use after dropping out of treatment had a lower drug tolerance threshold, exposing them to a greater risk of overdose.“Dropout rates among patients undergoing de-addiction treatment currently comprise nearly 25 to 30 per cent in Kapurthala,” he said.