Chandigarh, Oct 22 The family of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, who was shot dead last week in Mansa, said on Thursday they would not allow a post-mortem examination of his body until their demands were met.
The family announced the decision in Mansa following a meeting with a joint action committee which was seeking justice in the Jhota murder case.
They had demanded a CBI probe, which has now been taken over by the agency, into the matter.
The family also demands setting up a trauma centre in Jhota’s name and compensation for each injured person in the incident. Four persons had also sustained bullet injuries in this incident.
“Until the government accepts our demands, we will not allow post-mortem examination of Jhota,” said the activist’s wife Manpreet Kaur in Mansa.
Jhota’s father Bhim Singh, an ex-Serviceman, said the Sikh Panth had conveyed that an autopsy would be allowed after all demands are accepted.
Known for raising his voice against drug abuse and illegal sale of addictive substances at chemist shops, Jhota was shot in broad daylight inside the medical store at a busy marketplace in Mansa on October 13.
Ashwani Kumar, the store owner who opened fire on Jhota after he questioned him for selling addictive drugs to an elderly man, was taken into custody from Salasar in Rajasthan.
The incident, which took place while Jhota was hosting a Facebook Live, triggered a political slugfest in Punjab, which goes to polls early next year.
Jhota’s family has refused to perform the last rites of the anti-drug activist, whose body is lying at the mortuary of the civil hospital in Mansa, until justice is delivered.
A protest is already going on at Tinkoni area in Mansa and elsewhere outside the Civil Hospital.
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 (DGP) Gaurav Yadav, and the dismissal of the DSP, SHO and the drug inspector.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the investigation into the murder of Jhota after registering a case.
A special team comprising drug controllers, forensic experts and GST officials reached Mansa on Tuesday night and formally requested the police to hand over documents related to the case.
A station house officer (SHO) has also been suspended by the concerned authorities.
Amid mounting opposition criticism, a senior AAP leader on Wednesday claimed a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and a drug inspector were suspended in connection with the murder case.
All four accused including Ashwani Kumar were sent to judicial custody. Besides Ashwani, police had arrested his wife Neelam Rani and two others.
The Punjab government’s three-member committee of women IAS officers — Navjot Kaur, Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar and Apnit Riyat — met Jhota’s family and the joint action committee on Wednesday.
Riyat told reporters on Wednesday that the family and the joint action committee were apprised that the state government had already acted on their demands such as handing over the investigation to the CBI.
(PTI News)
