MANSA (PUNJAB) — Outrage over the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota has engulfed Punjab’s Mansa district, with authorities demolishing illegal structures at the residence of the accused and protesters setting his medical store ablaze on Wednesday. The Parvinder Singh Jhota murder has intensified the state’s long-running battle against the alleged sale of addictive drugs and drawn sharp attention to the dangers faced by grassroots activists.
Parvinder Singh Jhota was fatally shot on Tuesday after confronting medical store owner Ashwani Kumar over the alleged illegal sale of addictive medicines from his shop. Kumar was captured on camera allegedly shooting Jhota at point-blank range during the confrontation. Police arrested Kumar on Wednesday in Salasar, Rajasthan, according to reports, with ANI reporting the arrest was made in Churu, Rajasthan earlier in the day.
The killing triggered widespread protests in Mansa, where residents accused the local drug trade of operating with impunity. As public anger boiled over, authorities moved against the accused’s property — and a crowd torched his medical store.
Parvinder Singh Jhota murder: accused’s home demolished in Mansa
Acting amid the public outrage, authorities demolished illegal structures at the residence of Ashwani Kumar, the medical store owner accused of shooting Parvinder Singh Jhota. ANI shared visuals of the demolition underway in Mansa, with police personnel present at the spot.
The action against the accused’s property has emerged as a key development in the case. Officials said the demolished portions were illegal constructions, though the swift timing of the action — within a day of the killing — underlined the pressure on the administration to show a tough response.
Meanwhile, a crowd gathered outside Kumar’s medical store and set it on fire, according to reports from the scene. The store was the site of the confrontation that preceded the Parvinder Singh Jhota murder: the activist had gone there to raise the issue of addictive medicines allegedly being sold illegally, and the exchange ended in gunfire.
How the Parvinder Singh Jhota killing unfolded
According to ABP Live and other reports, Parvinder Singh Jhota had been campaigning against the alleged sale and use of addictive drugs in Punjab’s Mansa region — a cause that put him in direct conflict with local interests. On Tuesday, he confronted medical store owner Ashwani Kumar over addictive medicines allegedly being sold from the shop without proper regulation.
What happened next was captured on camera: Kumar allegedly shot Jhota at point-blank range during the confrontation. The activist died from his injuries, and the video of the shooting spread rapidly across social media, amplifying public fury.
The Parvinder Singh Jhota killing is being seen as the latest flashpoint in Punjab’s drug crisis. The state has long struggled with the illegal sale of addictive substances — from synthetic drugs to misused prescription medicines — and activists working at the grassroots level have repeatedly warned that enforcement has not kept pace with the trade.
Accused arrested in Rajasthan; protests continue
Police tracked down and arrested Ashwani Kumar on Wednesday in Rajasthan’s Salasar area, with ANI reporting the arrest location as Churu. The arrest came as protests intensified in Mansa, with residents demanding swift justice in the Parvinder Singh Jhota case.
The Punjab police are expected to bring the accused back for further investigation. Key questions remain about how the medical store allegedly operated, whether addictive medicines were being sold illegally, and what regulatory oversight the shop was under.
The Parvinder Singh Jhota murder has also renewed the debate over the safety of anti-drug activists. Grassroots campaigners against Punjab’s drug trade have frequently complained of threats and intimidation, and Jhota’s death — carried out in broad daylight and caught on camera — has been cited by supporters as proof of how brazen the trade’s enforcers have become.
Punjab’s drug fight: why the Parvinder Singh Jhota case matters
Punjab has been at the centre of India’s drug crisis for over a decade, with successive governments promising crackdowns that activists say have produced uneven results. Medical stores selling habit-forming drugs without prescriptions have been a persistent part of the problem, and the Parvinder Singh Jhota case has put that specific link of the chain under the spotlight.
Public health experts say addictive medicines — painkillers, cough syrups and sedatives sold over the counter — have created a parallel crisis alongside narcotics smuggling, particularly in rural Punjab. The Parvinder Singh Jhota activism targeted exactly this alleged pipeline, and his killing has now made it a statewide conversation.
Political and social groups in Punjab have called for a thorough probe into the murder and into the alleged illegal sale of addictive medicines in Mansa. The demolition of the accused’s illegal structures and the torching of his shop signal how raw the public mood is — but residents say the real test will be a conviction and a systemic cleanup of the trade the activist was fighting.
Rajasthan arrest: how the accused was caught
The arrest of Ashwani Kumar in Rajasthan on Wednesday morning was the second major development of the day in the case. According to ABP Live, the medical store owner was picked up in Salasar, Rajasthan, while ANI reported that he was arrested from Churu, Rajasthan earlier in the day — indicating the accused had fled across state lines after the shooting.
Inter-state coordination between Punjab and Rajasthan police made the quick arrest possible. Investigators are now expected to seek the accused’s transit remand and bring him back to Mansa for questioning about the sequence of events at the medical store, the weapon used in the shooting, and the circumstances of the confrontation that preceded Parvinder Singh Jhota’s death.
Legal experts say the video evidence — which reportedly captured the accused shooting the activist at point-blank range — will be central to the prosecution’s case. In high-profile Punjab cases, courts have increasingly relied on video and digital evidence to secure convictions in violent crimes linked to the drug trade.
The speed of the arrest and the demolition action has drawn both praise and scrutiny. Supporters of the crackdown say the administration finally showed the will to act against the drug trade’s local networks. Critics, however, caution that demolitions and torchings must not substitute for a fair trial and systemic reform of how addictive medicines are regulated and sold in Punjab.
For now, the Parvinder Singh Jhota murder has achieved what years of warnings could not: the alleged illegal sale of addictive drugs in Mansa is under a statewide microscope, and the pressure on authorities to dismantle the trade — not just punish one accused — is at its peak.
What happens next in the Parvinder Singh Jhota case
With the accused in custody and the property action completed, the investigation now moves to the courts. Police will need to establish the chain of events from the confrontation at the medical store to the shooting, supported by the video evidence that reportedly captured the attack.
For Mansa, the killing is both a tragedy and a turning point: an activist who confronted the drug trade paid with his life, and the state has responded with bulldozers and arrests. Whether it leads to lasting change in Punjab’s fight against addictive drugs remains the open question that Wednesday’s events could not answer.
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Source: ABP Live
Photos: symbolic editorial illustrations generated for LB Daily News.
