Residents claim around 20 families want to leave locality over alleged open sale of chitta; police deny drug angle, call it fallout of personal dispute
15 June, 2026 – Kotkapura : Residents of Ram Basti in Ward No. 17 on Jaito Road in Kotkapura on Sunday put up flex boards and posters outside their homes declaring them for sale, alleging unchecked drug trade and police inaction in the locality.
The posters, written in Punjabi, state: “This house is for sale because no action has been taken by police against drug traffickers in this locality.” The names of the respective house owners are also mentioned on the boards.
Of around 50 to 55 households in the locality, nearly 20 have already put up such posters.
Residents said they are willing to sell their houses even at half the market price if it ensures a safer future for their children away from the shadow of narcotics.
Kotkapura DSP Sanjeev Kumar, however, denied the drug angle altogether. He said the matter stemmed from a dispute between two parties, one of which had been demanding that stringent criminal sections be invoked against two brothers allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
According to the DSP, the complainant side projected the issue as one related to drugs to mount pressure on the accused.
Residents including Sukha Singh, Manish Pathak and Veena, however, alleged that the two brothers had been openly running a ‘chitta’ trade in the locality for a long time. They claimed NDPS cases were already registered against the duo, yet they continued to operate with impunity and allegedly threatened residents who spoke against them.
Residents also alleged that a physical altercation had recently taken place following such opposition.
The DSP said police cases against alleged drug peddlers in the area had increased nearly four times over the past year, adding that had drugs been sold openly in the locality, police would have acted on their own.
The Tribune