After her marriage to Bara Singh, a bootlegger, 52 years ago Paro Bai, 75, a resident of Sukhera Bodla village, allegedly entered liquor and drug trade. She is now booked under as many as 100 cases under the NDPS and Excise Acts and has already served jail sentences for 20 years, the fear of law clearly being of no use. Arrested two months ago with 8 kg of poppy husk, she was let out two days ago.
Talking to the media, she insisted she had quit the trade several years ago. But Fazilka SSP Bhupinder Singh said the police were determined to prepare a water-tight case against Paro Bai and her family.
Jalalabad SHO, Lekh Raj Batti, who has been investigating various cases involving Paro Bai’s family, said Bara Singh and Paro Bai had eloped to get married. “They continue to illegally trade even while raising their son Chan Singh and daughter Surjit Kaur, alias Channo.”
Paro Bai got Channo engaged with her bootlegger companion Sona Singh of Sukhera Bodla village but decided to marry him instead.
A widow, she was 45 years old then. The couple had two sons and two daughters. One of the daughters, Parmjit Kaur, was arrested with 6,000 sedative tablets last week.
On Wednesday, Parmjit’s sibling Raju was caught carrying around 180 tablets. He too has been booked.
Paro Bai’s son Chan Singh from her first marriage has been into the drug trade for about 10 years now. Booked in five cases, he was recently released from the Central Jail in Ferozepur after serving a 10-year sentence.
Chan Singh’s wife Nirmala faces action under the NDPS Act. She was caught with 3,200 intoxicating tablets in Jalalabad on January 22. Convicted under the NDPS Act, Paro Bai’s grandson Lakhwinder, alias Sonu, is serving sentence in the Ferozepur Central jail. Paro Bai’s son-in-law Surjit Singh, who is married to Channo, is facing trial in another two NDPS cases.
