PATIALA: Two days after the prime accused in the Aikom Dhillon murder case was caught smuggling narcotics into the Ropar jail, where she is presently lodged, the jail superintendent has revealed that she was addicted to drugs and had been taking medicines ever since she was shifted to Ropar jail.Seerat was caught with 15 grams of opium and four narcotic tablets that she had hidden in sanitary pads after she returned from a court hearing in Mohali. During her checking, the jail staff recovered the banned substance and got a case registered against her under the relevant Sections of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at the city police station.“Lodged in Ropar jail for a year, Seerat has been undergoing treatment for drug de-addiction and is regularly being administered medication,” said Ropar jail superintendent Balbir Singh.The jail authorities claimed that Seerat and her co-inmate Gurpreet Kaur, who is also an undertrial in a NRI murder case, were regularly visiting the jail psychiatrist, who has put them on medication to help them cope with their addiction.“We have even called in a psychologist, who has counselled Seerat and Gurpreet a number of times. After the contraband was recovered from her, she was again asked to interact with the psychologist,” Singh said. He said soon after Seerat was moved to Ropar jail, the staff got suspicious that she was into drugs and she was taken to the physiatrist for medication. He said the jail has three women constables and on Friday they had a tip-off about her bringing in drugs for personal consumption. The woman constable took Seerat to the washroom and carried out a search during which the contraband was recovered, he said.Ropar jail superintendent said, “We don’t have any scanner that could detect drugs concealed by prisoners in their private parts and physical frisking was the only way to check if inmates have smuggled in drugs.”Meanwhile, it was learnt that a portion of the boundary wall around the jail has been missing following which the jail authorise have deputed additional staff along the prison’s boundary wall.“There are 53 women lodged inside the jail and we have around 150 guards. Earlier, some miscreants would throw drugs into the jail by taking the benefit of the missing boundary wall. But now we have increased vigil and written to the higher authorities to get the boundary wall reconstructed,” said Balbir Singh.Seerat is facing murder charges for killing her husband Aikom Dhillon, whose body was found in a bag outside the couple’s rented accommodation in Phase 3A in April 2016.Earlier, she was lodged in Nabha jail but she was shifted to Ropar jail after she levelled allegations of sexual assault against the then jail superintendent in June last year.A panel of three members was formed to probe into the allegations, which had later given the jail superintendent a clean chit.

Stay updated with all the Latest Ludhiana headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.