Ex-serviceman Bhim Singh, father of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, who was allegedly shot dead by a chemist following a verbal confrontation over drugs at his shop in Mansa on Tuesday, blamed the police for his son’s death late Tuesday night. He said he would not hold talks with the police or the government without the participation of the protest committee.Addressing protesters who were spending the night at the protest site, Bhim said, “Those who are spending the night here in protest are like God to me. I have done my duty as a father. I will not turn my back on the people of Punjab. We will endure poverty and hunger but will not succumb to any temptation.”He appealed to the public to join the protest in large numbers.Recalling his son, he said he had never called him “Jhota” earlier but would now proudly call him “Parvinder Singh Jhota Babbar Sher”.Bhim also spoke about his son’s family, saying Jhota had two young sons, aged nine and six, and his wife was a teacher at an Akal Academy, where she had also studied.“There is no escaping death. People die at different stages of life, but my son has made a sacrifice,” he said.He also recalled Jhota’s close associate, Kulwinder Sukhi, who was injured in the firing and sustained a bullet injury to his foot.Meanwhile, two protests continued in Mansa. One was being held at the Tinkoni intersection on the Barnala-Sirsa road, near the Deputy Commissioner’s residence, while another was taking place outside the Civil Hospital, where Jhota’s body is kept.Protesters outside the hospital are seeking to ensure that the body is not cremated without the family’s knowledge or against its wishes.Special DGP Praveen Kumar Sinha, who arrived in Mansa after the incident, has assured the protesters that there would be no forceful cremation of Jhota.Early Wednesday, some leaders of Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) claimed that the police had detained some of their members to prevent them from reaching the protest site in Mansa.