Hours before the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Punjab, the state government on Tuesday handed over the probe into the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced the decision in a post on X, saying the government stood firmly with Jhota’s father and family in their fight against drugs. He said the decision to hand over the case to the CBI had been taken in response to the family’s demand.
“The family’s demand has been accepted, and we are handing over the case to the CBI,” Mann said in his post in Punjabi. He added that the government’s fight against drug traffickers was uncompromising and that it would not hesitate to take any tough measures to make Punjab drug-free.
The CBI probe was among the key demands raised by Jhota’s family and the action committee formed to seek justice for the slain activist.
Jhota was shot dead at a chemist shop in Mansa on October 13. He had allegedly confronted the shopkeeper, Ashwani, over the sale of drugs, and the entire incident was streamed on a Facebook live video. Four of his associates were injured in the incident.
His body is still lying at the civil hospital in Mansa as the family is yet to give consent for the post-mortem examination.
Jhota’s father, Bhim Singh, an ex-serviceman, had been demanding a CBI probe into the murder. The family and the action committee had also sought accountability from the state government and police over the incident.
The announcement comes amid mounting public anger over the killing and ahead of Shah’s visit to Mansa, Sangrur and Gurdaspur on Tuesday.
The murder has triggered protests across the state, with demonstrators demanding strict action against those involved and an end to the alleged nexus between drug traffickers, politicians and the police.
The state had witnessed a bandh on October 15 in this regard.