More than three years before his killing, anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh, popularly known as Jhota, had allegedly paraded Ashwani Kumar, the same person now accused of shooting him dead, through a market in Mansa with a garland of shoes around his neck.A case was registered against both of them in connection with the incident.According to a purported video from July 2023, Jhota and his supporters had caught a man allegedly selling banned capsules and followed him to a shop from where he was reportedly procuring the drugs. They claimed to have found banned drugs at the shop and subsequently paraded its owner, Ashwani Kumar, through the market.They later took him to the police station and lodged a complaint against him.An FIR was registered against Ashwani on the basis of Jhota’s complaint. However, after videos of the incident circulated on social media, the police also registered a case against Jhota for allegedly taking the law into his own hands.The 2023 incident has resurfaced following the fatal shooting of Jhota at a drug store in Mansa on Tuesday.Meanwhile, Mansa SSP Vaibhav Chaudhary described Tuesday’s incident as tragic and said the deceased was a social worker.“We assure that the accused will be arrested within 24 hours. Whether the weapon used in the crime was legal or illegal is under investigation,” the SSP said.Jhota’s supporters gathered in large numbers at the Civil Hospital and raised slogans against the police. A large number of police personnel were also deployed to maintain law and order.The deceased’s father said they would not cremate the body until justice was delivered.“I demand the immediate dismissal of the Punjab Government. I appeal to the Central Government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to take note of what is happening in Punjab. Anti-drug activists are being shot dead in the open,” he said.Jhota’s supporters later started a protest at Bara Hatta Chowk in Mansa.