The CBI has taken over the murder case of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, starting a new investigation after transferring the case from the Punjab Police. This move follows ongoing pressure from Jhota’s family and political groups, especially with the Punjab elections approaching. Jhota, a former athlete and activist from Mansa, was shot and killed on 13th October 2026 inside a crowded chemist shop while live-streaming the event
on Facebook.
According to different reports, Jhota and his associates got into a dispute with shopkeeper Ashwani Kumar after an older man was said to have bought banned psychotropic substances at the shop. The argument escalated, and Kumar allegedly fired a licensed pistol at Jhota, hitting him with three bullets, two in the abdomen and one in the thigh, which led to his death. Four of Jhota’s associates were also injured. The incident and shooting were broadcast live, which fuelled
public anger.
The two men had previously come to blows. In July 2023, Jhota and his supporters went so far as to parade Kumar around with a garland of shoes after accusing him of selling the banned capsules. At that time, they filed mutual complaints and FIRs. The shop (Kumar and his wife Neelam Rani’s shop) had been raided about ten times over four years. The licence had been suspended three times, and there had been seizures of intoxicants, yet the shop continued to operate. Kumar had faced cases previously (under the NDPS Act) and had in fact obtained an arms licence
in 2024.
Punjab Police arrested him from Salasar, Rajasthan immediately after the murder; his wife, a cousin and an employee were also booked. The unauthorised portions of the premises were later demolished, and a mob set the shop alight. The central probe is into how the banned psychotropics remained on sale in the face of raids, suspensions of licences and prior cases against the accused shooter.
Jhota’s family (led by his father Bhim Singh, an ex-serviceman) refused the post-mortem and last rites until a CBI probe was ordered. They alleged a wider network of open drug sales at chemist shops, police inaction and a possible political connection. A statewide bandh followed. On 20 October, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced the handover of the case
to the CBI.
A CBI team reached Mansa a few hours later after a meeting between the family and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The agency has taken over FIR No 269 at the Mansa City-2 police station and is collecting documents. A special team (comprising drug controllers, forensic experts and GST experts) is looking into the matter. The post-mortem is still pending at PGIMER Chandigarh under magistrate inquest, and
the body is still in their
possession.
They will be examining how the banned psychotropics continued to be sold openly in the face of multiple raids and suspensions, the process by which the arms licence was granted despite the criminal record and any wider collusion. The CBI is expected to move for the arrest and custody of Ashwani Kumar and others.
The probe is in the midst of Punjab’s well-documented problem of pharmaceutical diversion of opioids and the well-known enforcement lapses. The CBI are now stepping in to see if it can take the probe beyond the shooter to the supply chain and any enablers that allowed such a daylight killing to happen.