Anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota killed in Mansa

Who: Parvinder Singh Jhota, 42, an anti-drug activist from Mansa, married to a teacher, with two sons of about nine and six. His father, Bhim Singh, an ex-serviceman, leads the family's demands. The accused is chemist Ashwani Kumar, named in the CBI's FIR; he has not been tried.

What: On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, between 9 and 10:30 a.m., Jhota was shot dead at a chemist's shop in Mansa after he allegedly confronted the owner over the sale of drugs. The shooting was streamed on Facebook Live, and four others, including a passer-by, were injured. FIR 269 was registered the next day at Mansa City-2 police station. The SHO was suspended and the shopkeeper's arms licence cancelled. Four accused are in police custody on remand, the pistol used has been recovered, and the family refused last rites.

A Joint Struggle Committee led by Bhim Singh called a Punjab bandh on October 15, backed by farmer unions, the SGPC, the Akali Dal, Congress and the BJP. On Friday, October 16, at the Tinkoni protest site in Mansa, acting Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj called his death a martyrdom and named him Shaheed Bhai Parvinder Singh. The SGPC would pay the injured's medical costs, and on October 17 its president Harjinder Singh Dhami said Jhota's photograph would go up in the Central Sikh Museum. On October 20 the Punjab government handed the case to the CBI and Home Minister Amit Shah visited the family; the CBI registered its own FIR on October 21, and the post-mortem was set for PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Where: Mansa, Punjab. His body lay in the civil hospital, and the protest sat near the Deputy Commissioner's residence.

Why it mattered: The family and committee demanded a CBI probe, a PGIMER post-mortem, accountability from police and officials, and an end to the alleged nexus of drug sellers, police and politicians. Bhim Singh also demanded the resignations of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the DGP. Gargaj said the matter was not political but one of Punjab's existence, and rejected a communal framing. The Opposition says the AAP government failed to protect people campaigning against drugs. This account runs to October 21, 2026; the case is still developing.