Amid a slew of addiction and drug overdose cases in the region, the tentacles of drugs have not even spared children. At an age when kids can’t get enough of milk and chocolates, a viral video of a little boy snorting drugs has invited widespread outrage.Two minor children — brothers aged 10 and 13 — were rescued by the Kapurthala police and admitted to the local Civil Hospital after a video of one of them doing drugs went viral on social media.The Kapurthala police on Wednesday rescued the boys — sons of a migrant labourer — from Raipur Jhuggian village and admitted them to Civil Hospital, Kapurthala. The boys are currently under treatment and in stable condition.Paramjit Singh (32), a resident of Hoshiarpur, has been arrested by the Kapurthala police for administering drugs to children. A case has been registered against him at the Subhanpur police station under Section 77 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and Section 29 of the NDPS Act.The police action was prompted by a video in which a little boy in a T-shirt was seen snorting an intoxicant powder from tinfoil with a cigarette and a lighter. The ease with which he lit the foil and snorted the intoxicant raised questions about how long he had been into the habit.Police traced the child and his brother to Raipur Jhuggian — a border village of Kapurthala in the notorious drug belt of Subhanpur-Kartarpur, infamous for its drug hotspots.Police said the boys belong to an extremely poor household; their father died 2-3 years ago and their mother is a migrant labourer who stays out of home for long hours. Upon reaching the village, police saw the boys roaming barefoot near their house.Police added that accused Paramjit Singh had been giving drugs to kids and making videos, which he himself shared on the internet.SHO Subhanpur Amandeep Nahar said, “We rescued the kids yesterday. They belong to a dirt-poor family, so much so that neighbours said they are also known to eat mud. They were rescued in sordid conditions. The accused was nabbed after village elders told us a man had been coming and giving drugs to children. The twin hotspots of Naharpur and Kartarpur also lie nearby. We are looking into why he was coming to this village and where he got the drugs from.”Paramjit has been remanded to police custody.Sarabjit Singh, Sarpanch of Raipur Jhuggian, said, “We are a border village stranded in a notorious drug belt. In some nearby villages, people come from far to source drugs. It is not uncommon for peddlers to use children to further sell drugs. Until the police inquiry, we had no clue these children were into drugs. They earlier went to school but their father died a couple of years ago, and eventually they dropped out.”As per the FIR, Paramjit Singh, a resident of Shanti Nagar, Islamabad, Hoshiarpur, is himself an addict and was in the habit of finding small kids, giving them drugs and making their videos. Ahead of the arrest, the Subhanpur police received a tip-off that he was looking for kids at Raipur Jhuggian for similar activities.An emergency doctor at Civil Hospital said, “Two children, aged 10 and 13, were brought to us from Raipur Jhuggian by the Subhanpur police. As per the police, they were consuming drugs. Their treatment began after consultation with child and de-addiction specialists. As per the kids, they picked up the habit through contact with some older kids in their village. The children are stable and their treatment continues.”SSP Kapurthala Gaurav Toora was unavailable for comment.