A day after graffiti reading “chitta hi chitta” appeared on a wall in Doomwali village in Bathinda district, a 32-year-old man was found dead in Bathinda city with a syringe inserted in his arm, highlighting concerns over drug abuse in the region.The incident comes amid ongoing protests over the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa, which has brought the drug menace into sharp focus.The deceased, Ramesh Kumar, a daily wager and resident of Paras Ram Nagar, was found lying unconscious in Street No. 29 of the locality on Jattvibeday night. Volunteers of the Naujawan Welfare Society reached the spot in an ambulance after receiving information and found him dead, with a syringe inserted in his arm. His motorcycle was parked nearby.The society members informed the police and shifted the body to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination.ASI Jaswinder Singh, Additional SHO of the Canal Colony police station, said the police had booked two persons, Buta Singh and Biru, on the basis of a tip-off. Both had previous criminal cases registered against them, he said, adding that efforts were underway to arrest them. The family was yet to record its statement, he added.Sources said the deceased had recently been admitted to a de-addiction centre by his family.Ramesh is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters, aged about seven and five. His wife and sister-in-law work as domestic helpers, the police said.Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, criticised the state government over the incident.Sukhbir wrote on X: “Under the reckless governance of Bhagwant Mann, such images are becoming synonymous with Punjab. This is absolutely unacceptable. We need accountability. We need answers and we need heads to roll if drug trade can’t be stopped.”Harsimrat wrote on X that the incident reflected the suffering of an ordinary Punjabi family. She alleged that the manufacturing and supply of synthetic drugs had increased and that the “police-administration-smuggler nexus” had strengthened. She also accused those in power of being involved in the drug trade and questioned how many more lives would be lost before the AAP government acted.The incident follows the appearance of graffiti reading “chitta hi chitta”, accompanied by an arrow, on a wall in Narsingh Colony of Doomwali village on Saturday night. A woman in the village had alleged that drugs were easily available and claimed that their prices ranged from Rs 100 to Rs 500.Subsequently, the police conducted a cordon-and-search operation in the village on Jattvibeday and claimed to have seized 10 gm of heroin and 165 pregabalin capsules. Four persons were arrested in three cases, while six others were detained for questioning, the police said.Earlier, on October 10, a police team led by DIG Harjeet Singh, along with SSP Suhail Qasim Mir and ADC Kanchan, had conducted a cordon-and-search operation in the village.