Chandigarh: A video of a young married woman allegedly snorting ‘chitta’ (synthetic drugs) inside a Punjab police station has raised questions on the role of the latter in the whole episode.

In the video, a young woman, wearing chooda (wedding bangles) on her wrists, can be seen sitting front of a lighted candle and inhaling ‘chitta’ by putting it on a foil paper.

'Chitta' refers to synthetically produced drugs that include heroin and more specifically ecstasy, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide ) and methamphetamines. While traditionally 'chitta' has referred to just heroin, the entry of new synthetic drugs has made the definition more broad based.

The video, said to be shot inside a police station, brings into question the role of police in the entire episode. A man can be heard telling someone in the video that he has to go and conduct a raid: “Main Jalandhar raid karanjarehahan… (I’m going to Jalandhar to conduct a raid).”

The voice in the background suggests that the woman was taking drugs in front of the police officer. The video also shows that the candle is placed on a black coloured iron box which is similar to the iron boxes that are mostly found in police stations. Such boxes are usually used for storing arms in police stations.

Recently, a case of Ferozepur DSP pushing a woman into drug addiction attracted a lot of bad press for the Punjab police. Now with such a video getting viral on social media, it will once again put Punjab police under the scanner.

Besides this, the video has also thrown light on women drug addicts in Punjab. To curb the problem, the first drug rehabilitation Centre for women in Punjab was also inaugurated in May 2016.

Facing severe criticism from several quarters over its failure to tackle the drug menace plaguing the state, the Punjab government on Monday decided to recommend death penalty for drug peddlers and smugglers to the Centre.

In March, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched the Drug Abuse Prevention Officer initiative aimed at engaging government employees and citizens to wipe out the menace of drugs from the State.

“I appeal to one and all to become part of the anti-drugs campaign of the government. It is the collective responsibility of all to rescue the youth from the clutches of drugs, which is destroying the future generations. It is important for everyone to support the government in this fight against drugs in the interest of the State’s development and progress,” he said then.