People Standing Still on Road for Hours: Effects of “Zombie Drug”
Viral videos of unresponsive people sparked a "zombie drug" scare in India, but while the threat of synthetic opioids is real, many cases were actually medical issues fueled by social media panic.
Between March and April 2026, a series of viral videos across India sparked a nationwide "zombie drug" panic.
It began in Chandigarh’s Sector 33B, where a delivery worker stood frozen and unresponsive for two hours, a bidi in his mouth and a hollow gaze fixed on nothing. Similar sightings soon followed in Bihar and Bengaluru, leading social media users to claim that the "Tranq" epidemic had finally reached Indian shores.
The term typically refers to a lethal cocktail of Fentanyl and Xylazine:
Fentanyl: A synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.
Xylazine: A veterinary sedative for large animals (horses/cattle) not cleared for human use.
The Effect: Users experience extreme sedation, respiratory depression, and a "frozen" state. Prolonged use causes necrosis (tissue death), which can lead to limb amputations.
While the imagery was haunting, official investigations tell a more nuanced story. On April 8, a viral clip from Bengaluru was debunked when police identified the man as Rajiveer Singh, a driver from Punjab. His catatonic state was caused by a dangerous interaction between arthritis medication and alcohol, not illegal narcotics. Police subsequently arrested Hemanth Kumar for circulating the video and inciting public panic.
With Pakistan serving as a major transit route and recent drone-led smuggling operations (including 5 kg of heroin intercepted at the Punjab border), the fear is that these synthetic "zombie" cocktails are the next frontier in cross-border drug trafficking.
