Punjab hands over Jhota murder probe to CBI ahead of Amit Shah’s visit

Bhagwant Mann yields to anti-drug activist’s family’s demand for a central probe hours before Union home minister meeting with them in Mansa at 3.45pm.

Bathinda: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday morning announced that the state government will hand over the probe into the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh, alias Jhota, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh, alias Jhota, was fatally shot inside a medical store at a busy Mansa market on October 13 while broadcasting live on Facebook.He was known for raising his voice against the illegal sale of habit-forming pharmaceutical drugs. (HT file photo)

The announcement comes ahead of Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Punjab on Tuesday afternoon, where he is scheduled to meet the aggrieved family in Mansa at 3.45pm.

Accepting the family’s primary demand, Mann expressed solidarity with the activist’s relatives. “We stand firmly with the father of Parvinder Singh Jhota and his family. Accepting the demand of the family, we are handing over this case to the CBI. Our fight against drug peddlers is all-out, and we will not back down from whatever drastic steps we have to take to make Punjab drug-free,” Mann posted in Punjabi on X.

Jhota, known for raising his voice against the illegal sale of habit-forming pharmaceutical drugs, was shot dead inside a medical store at a busy Mansa market on October 13 while broadcasting live on Facebook.

The killing triggered public outrage, bringing together social outfits, political organisations, and local supporters under a Joint Action Committee (Insaaf Committee).

Seven days after the murder, Jhota’s body remains uncremated. His father, an ex-serviceman, Bhim Singh, had declared on October 13 that the family would not allow a post-mortem or conduct the last rites until a CBI probe was officially granted.

The movement led to continuous protests in Mansa, with demonstrators demanding the resignations of Mann and director general of police Gaurav Yadav, along with the dismissal of the Mansa senior superintendent of police, deputy superintendent of police, station house officer, and the local drug inspector.

To break the deadlock, the state government had deputed a three-member panel of women bureaucrats to meet the aggrieved family and Insaaf Committee members on Monday evening to receive their charter of demands.

The incident has escalated into a major political row in Punjab ahead of the assembly elections early next year.

During his state tour, Shah is also scheduled to visit Dirba in Sangrur to meet the family of a daily-wage worker whose death on September 8 triggered a political row after he had publicly questioned Punjab finance minister Harpal Cheema over local drug sales. He will then head to Mari Panwan village in Gurdaspur’s Batala to express condolences to the family of Bikramjit Singh, who was allegedly killed on October 15 for confronting drug peddlers.