Chandigarh, Oct 16 Three days after he was shot dead, anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota’s body is lying in the mortuary of Civil Hospital in Mansa town, as his family has refused to perform the last rites until justice is delivered.
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal met the activist’s family separately on Friday.
A joint action committee comprising various organisations and social activists formed after Jhota’s murder has demanded the resignations of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, and the dismissal of the Mansa senior superintendent of police, deputy superintendent of police, station house officer and the drug inspector.
It has also demanded a CBI probe into the matter.
Jhota, an anti-drug activist, was shot dead by a medical store owner at a busy market in Mansa on Tuesday. Ashwani Kumar, the store owner who fired at Jhota when he was being questioned for selling addictive drugs to an elderly man, was arrested in Rajasthan’s Salasar.
The murder, which took place while Jhota was hosting a Facebook Live, has triggered a political slugfest in the state, which goes to polls early next year.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has vowed the strictest punishment for those behind the killing, even as opposition leaders have claimed a complete breakdown of law and order amid a “jungle raj” in the state.
In a post on X on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre will seek Punjab government’s response over Jhota’s killing and the death by suicide of Gulzar Singh last month, who had questioned a minister about drug supply in his locality.
Speaking to reporters after visiting Jhota’s family, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj lashed out at the Mann government.
“It is their responsibility to curb the drug menace, but this government has completely failed in doing so,” he said.
Gargajj said during Akal Takht’s Miri-Piri Khalsa march that began in July, he met many families in villages across Punjab and highlighted the severity of the impact of drugs.
On Tuesday, the Jathedar condemned the activist’s killing and described it as a huge loss for the ‘Panth’ and Punjab.
He said drug peddlers have become so emboldened due to the government’s failure to curb the menace that they are openly selling drugs and committing murders now.
Separately, Harsimrat Kaur Badal told reporters that the entire Punjab stands with the activist’s family in their hour of grief.
The drug menace has increased during the AAP government’s time, she alleged.
“Those selling drugs are enjoying the patronage of this government. They are so emboldened that if anyone raises their voice against drugs, they face bullets,” she said, demanding the immediate dismissal of the current government.
(PTI News)
