Daijiworld Media Network - Chandigarh

Chandigarh, Oct 21: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the investigation into the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Punjab’s Mansa district and registered an FIR, officials said on Wednesday. A team of the central agency has also arrived in the state to investigate the case.

The development comes a day after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that the case would be handed over to the CBI following a demand from Jhota’s family. His killing has triggered a political controversy in the state ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, with the drug menace remaining a major issue.

“We stand firmly with the father and the family of Parvinder Singh Jhota, who was fighting against drugs,” Mann said in a post on X on Tuesday. He said the government had accepted the family’s demand for a CBI investigation and reiterated its commitment to taking strict action against drug peddlers.

Jhota was shot dead in an open market in Mansa on October 13. According to reports, he was allegedly killed by Ashwani Kumar, a shop owner, after confronting him over the alleged sale of drugs to an elderly man. Kumar was later apprehended by officials in Rajasthan’s Salasar.

Seven days after the killing, Jhota’s last rites had still not been performed as his family continued to demand justice. Union Home Minister Amit Shah met the family on Tuesday and assured them that justice would be delivered.

Last week, Shah had criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the drug problem in Punjab and said his office would seek a report from the state government on Jhota’s killing. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the ruling AAP of failing to curb the drug menace.

The BJP has intensified its criticism of the Mann government over the issue ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The AAP government had earlier constituted a committee to investigate the killing, but Jhota’s family expressed a lack of confidence in the state-level probe and demanded an investigation by a central agency.