Patti (Tarn Taran): Two brothers were found dead on Sunday morning in Patti town of Punjab's Tarn Taran district. The deceased were identified as Gurdeep Singh (36) and his younger brother Sona Singh (28), sons of Jagseer Singh, according to reports by TV9 Punjabi and TezzBuzz.

The family has been living for about four years in a small room inside the Taranwala school complex (block office premises) in Patti. Both brothers worked as labourers to support the family. The elder brother, Gurdeep Singh, was married and leaves behind his wife and three small children; Sona Singh was unmarried.

Their mother Surinder Kaur and sister Satwinder Kaur told reporters that the two brothers went to sleep in their room on Saturday night in an intoxicated state, and when the family tried to wake them on Sunday morning, they were already dead. According to the family, one brother used chitta (heroin) while the other was taking intoxicant pills, and both had been using drugs for a long time.

Source: TV9 Punjabi

The drug link is the family's account and has not been established as the cause of death. Both reports say the actual cause will be clear only after a medical examination, and neither report carries a police statement confirming the cause.

The deaths have again raised anger and questions in Patti and the surrounding area about drug availability and addiction in the border district, where the family's account has left two earning members dead in a single night and three small children without their father.