Chandigarh, Oct 14 The medical store owner accused of killing anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Punjab’s Mansa town was arrested from Rajasthan on Wednesday as anger spilled onto the streets with mobs setting ablaze his shop while authorities razed a portion of his house.
Jhota’s father gave a Punjab bandh call on Thursday with political parties including Congress, Akali Dal, BJP, Akali Dal Waris Punjab De and farmers’ body Samyukta Kisan Morcha and other farmers’ unions and state government employees’ unions extending support to it.
The family has also refused to cremate the body.
Known for raising his voice against drug abuse and illegal sale of addictive substances at chemist shops, Jhota was shot in broad daylight at a busy marketplace on Tuesday.
Ashwani Kumar, the medical store owner who allegedly opened fire on Jhota after he questioned him for selling addictive drugs to an elderly man, was taken into custody from Salasar in Rajasthan, police said.
Bathinda Range DIG Harjit Singh said an FIR has been registered against two persons.
Earlier, dramatic scenes unfolded in the Veer Nagar area as an excavator razed the front portion of Kumar’s house located in an alley.
People could be seen climbing the boundary walls of nearby houses to catch a glimpse of the demolition, which, according to police, followed information about unauthorised construction on the premises.
The bulldozer action was also initiated at Kumar’s store located about 700 metres from the house, before mobs, including some ‘Nihangs’, ripped it apart amid heavy police presence, with a large crowd filming the act.
They vandalised the store, where Jhota was shot, with swords, sticks and stones, with the crowd raising slogans against the accused as the structure came apart brick by brick, before it was set ablaze.
The mob also dragged the furniture from the store onto the road and set it ablaze.
The incident, which took place while Jhota was hosting a Facebook Live, has triggered a political slugfest in Punjab, which goes to polls early next year.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann vowed the strictest punishment for those behind the killing even as opposition leaders claimed there was a complete breakdown of law and order amid a ‘jungle raj’ in the state.
Reiterating his government’s zero-tolerance policy towards drug trafficking, Mann appealed to the people to maintain peace.
In a video message, he said anybody found hatching a conspiracy in this matter will not be spared.
Speaking to reporters in Mansa, Jhota’s father Bhim Singh urged everyone to support the October 15 bandh called from 6 am to 5 pm.
He said during the bandh, emergency services will be allowed.
A joint action committee comprising various organisations and social activists formed after Jhota’s murder has demanded resignations of Mann and DGP Gaurav Yadav and dismissal of the Mansa senior Superintendent of Police and the DSP, SHO and drug inspector concerned.
They also demanded a CBI probe into the matter.
Bhim Singh also sought to know whom accused Ashwani Kumar was speaking with on his mobile before opening fire on Jhota.
DIG Singh, when asked about the last call by Ashwani, said according to preliminary investigation, he was speaking with his one of his family members.
In his complaint with police, Bhim Singh, an ex-serviceman, said his only son was a boxer and cricket player who had been fighting against the drug menace after being distressed by deaths caused by substance abuse in Punjab.
His son’s campaign against drugs brought him into the crosshairs of drug smugglers in Mansa and politicians and government officials allegedly involved in the trade, he alleged in his complaint, which is part of the FIR.
According to the FIR, Bhim Singh was on his way from home to meet a retired subedar at the Mansa district court.
After reaching a street near a sweet shop, he heard a gunshot, following which someone in the crowd shouted that Jhota had been shot, he said.
When he looked ahead, he saw his son soaked in blood outside Ashwini’s medical store, the FIR said.
Bhim Singh alleged that as his son ran away, Ashwani, carrying a pistol, followed him and fired shots in front of him.
Singh also alleged that Ashwani and his associates had conspired to murder his son.
Jhota’s father further alleged that some politicians, police personnel and drug employees were also responsible for the killing and demanded that they be also investigated in the case.
Earlier, police detained Akali Dal Waris Punjab De leader Manpreet Singh Ayali and his supporters after they were stopped at Halwara Chowk in Jagraon as they headed to Mansa to express grief with Jhota’s family.
Former chief minister and Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi also accused Punjab Police of stopping him from heading toward Mansa.
A heated argument took place between Channi’s supporters and some police officers when they were stopped from going ahead.
Punjab Police is stopping us at the instance of the Mann government to hide its failure, Channi claimed.
Several politicians, however, visited Mansa to express grief with the victim’s family.
Congress MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who met the bereaved family, termed the killing a chilling reflection of the deteriorating law and order in Punjab.
He also asked Mann to resign as the chief minister if his government cannot ensure the safety of its people.
The drug menace is one of the biggest issues facing Punjab today, which the Mann government has failed to curb, Warring said.
(PTI News)
