The owner of the centre after his arrest. (Express photo by Jaipal Singh) The owner of the centre after his arrest. (Express photo by Jaipal Singh)

An illegally run drug de-addiction centre in Ropar district’s Jand Sahib village, from where the police freed 195 patients in a dramatic 20-hour operation that ended Wednesday, was more a well-guarded prison where the treatment was worse than the condition of those who went there looking for a cure. Inmates allege abduction from their homes, physical torture at the hands of the man running the centre and his staff, and being used as captive labour in his fields and cattle farm.

Located in the middle of lush paddy fields on a two-acre plot, the “deaddiction centre’s scenic setting belies what was going on behind its closed doors. Located just behind the famous Jand Sahib gurdwara, it was owned and run by Khushwinder Singh aka Kaka. Arrested Wednesday, he already faces 13 criminal cases. Two accomplices, Amandeep and Dilbagh Singh, were also arrested.

Two halls in the building housed the patients, all in various states of addiction to a range of substances. In the bigger of the two halls,130 iron-legged charpais with basic bedding, are arranged tightly next to each other, in four row with virtually no space to move in between. Another 50 beds are in the adjoining smaller hall, next to an open bathing area where patients bathed.

The access to both halls is through four iron gates that remain locked throughout the day and only Khushwinder or the dozen musclemen that he employed had the keys. To one side of the premises are three rooms in which Khushwinder was living with his family. Also on the premises is a cow shed with 100 cattle, with the patients making up Khushwinder’s unpaid workforce.

Panic-stricken families from various parts of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal began arriving at the centre from Monday evening when Ropar police informed them about the raid. From a 14-year-old boy to a 69-year-old man who returned from California, men from all age groups comprised the 195 inmates who were allegedly held captive at the centre, located around five kilometers from Chamkaur Sahib.

As they stumbled out into the broad daylight on Tuesday, The Indian Express spoke to them. There was no treatment at the centre with medicines or any other approved method. The patients recalled how they were abducted by Khushwinder’s men from their residences with the knowledge of their families, and dumped at the de-addiction centre. Khushwinder had assured their families that he would cure them in a few months’ time. Each of the families had paid Rs 18,000-20,000 per month for the stay and “treatment’ of a son, father, husband or brother.

“He (Khushwinder) did not spare me. About three weeks ago, my parents dumped me here because I got addicted to bhaang. Every day, he used to beat me for no reason”, said the 14-yr-old, a resident of Chaunta Khurd village of Ropar district. “ The police have informed my father. I am waiting for him to come to take me home”, the boy said.

A 69-yr-old man of village Amargarh Kaler in Jagraon of Ludhiana district, says he is an alcoholic. “I came back from California about three months ago. My relatives, with whom I am having a land dispute, dumped me here about 50 days ago. I am thankful to the police for getting me out of this hell”, he told Indian Express.

Another 49-yr-old man, a resident of Abohar, addicted to charas for the last 30 years said, “My family is to be blamed for all that I went through during my two-month stay here. He (Khushwinder) used to make us get up in the middle of night and take a cold bath. He would take us to his fields and used us as bonded labour. His musclemen who stood guard used to beat us in case we refused”.

A 38-year-old man from Abohar said the musclemen would use wooden sticks and iron to beat the patients.

“Whoever dared to defy Khushwinder’s order was tied with iron chains to the window’s grill. They would beat us and leave us like that for the entire night without food and water,” said a 38-year-old man from Abohar whose father had reached today to take him back home.

Inmates alleged they were not allowed to communicate with their families. “Whenever I called him (Khushwinder) requesting to talk to my son, he would say that my son was busy in meditation and should not be disturbed. In last three months since my son is lodged here, I have barely managed to speak to him once,” said a Hoshiarpur resident who came Wednesday to take his son back home.

One inmate said he was forced to sleep in the toilet. “Very often, he would put at least two of us on late night duty. It meant that we would be required to clean the toilets overnight and sleep there. He would bolt the toilets door from outside and not let us come out till morning,” the inmate alleged, narrating his horrifying stay of nearly two months in Khushwinder’s centre.

The centre was being run for the last six-seven years. The villagers say they did not know that it was illegal. “We thought that Khushwinder was doing a good job by treating addicts. We knew that he was subjecting them to brutal torture, but we could not do anything since his musclemen used to threaten us,” said Karnail Singh, a villager.

“To mislead people, Khushwinder has got this place registered as Jand Sahib Sikh Academy. He told these inmates’ families that he will treat them by teaching them holy scriptures. But instead, he tortured the inmates and made them work as a bonded labour for him in his fields and cattle shed,” DSP Navreet Singh Virk told The Indian Express.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Mankaran Singh Chahal, said, “All the inmates were medically examined. Those who required medical attention were taken to hospital and provided treatment.”

“The accused were produced in the local court today. The court has given us their three day custody for further interrogation. Khushwinder was earning about Rs 40 lakh per month from these inmates’ families. He was not giving any receipt for the money he charged people. He has three bank accounts and his wife operates two. We shall be scrutinising all these bank accounts tomorrow,” DSP Virk added.

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