Patiala: A contractual employee of the Patiala municipal corporation was allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapons outside his home near Sanouri Adda after he opposed suspected drug peddling in his locality.The incident happened on Sunday night. Tinku suffered deep cuts to his head and hand and was admitted to Govt Rajindra Hospital, police said here on Tuesday.Kotwali Patiala police on Monday registered an FIR against five people, including a local peddler Deepak and an unidentified associate. They were booked under BNS Sections 109, 115(2), 118(1), 351(2), 190, 191(3) and 126(2) for offences including attempt to murder, causing hurt with dangerous weapons, criminal intimidation, unlawful assembly, armed rioting and wrongful restraint.The attack occurred around 9 pm on Sunday when Tinku was outside his house. In his complaint to the police, he alleged that Deepak and 12-14 accomplices, armed with a cleaver, dagger, iron rod and baseball bat, ambushed him because they suspected he was a police informant.He claimed that despite his objections and police complaints, heroin (chitta) had been openly sold outside his house for the last three or four years.Harmandeep Singh Hans, senior superintendent of police, Patiala, said police raided Deepak’s premises earlier on Sunday after receiving a tip-off that he was going to supply contraband, but Deepak was not home.Hans said the accused later blamed Tinku for the raid, leading to an altercation and attack. No contraband was recovered during the raid.SHO, Kotwali police station, inspector Gurpreet Singh Handa, said no accused had been arrested so far, and raids were underway to nab the culprits.The SSP said regular cordon and search operations were continuing at identified drug hotspots across the district.Punjab Congress, meanwhile, criticised the Bhagwant Mann govt over its “drug-free Punjab” claims, saying neither law and order nor the narcotics trade was kept under check. The party also questioned measures to protect people opposing drug syndicates.
