Anti-drug activist’s murder: Mansa authorities raze chemist’s house, mob torches shop

Authorities raze illegal portions of Ashwani Kumar’s house, store following widespread anger over the fatal shooting of activist Parvinder Singh Jhota.

Bathinda: Hours after pharmacy owner Ashwani Kumar was arrested for the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh, alias Jhota, Mansa district authorities launched a demolition drive Wednesday targeting unauthorised construction at Kumar’s residence and medical shop.

An agitated mob torched a chemist shop which was demolished by Mansa district authorities on Wednesday. The shop belonged to Ashwani Kumar, where he fatally shot Parvinder Singh Jhota on Tuesday morning. (HT Photo)

The situation in the town turned tense after an agitated mob led by a group of Nihangs torched the chemist shop where Jhota was gunned down on Tuesday morning. The arson occurred despite heavy police deployment in the area.

Civil officials subsequently pressed an excavator into service to raze the shop and the front portion of Kumar’s multi-storeyed house in Veer Nagar.

Mansa SSP Vaibhav Chaudhary was present on-site to supervise the operation and maintain law and order.

Jhota, a vocal activist against the illegal sale of habit-forming pharmaceuticals, was shot in broad daylight in a busy market after confronting Kumar for allegedly selling addictive drugs to an elderly man.

Police arrested an associate who helped Kumar flee before capturing Kumar himself in Salasar, Rajasthan, on Tuesday night.

The murder triggered outrage and Jhota’s family initially refused to cremate his body in protest.

Opposition leaders, including former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Ludhiana Congress MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, arrived in Mansa to extend support to the bereaved family, pointing to the incident as evidence of a law and order breakdown under the AAP government.