Bulldozer action against properties linked to Ashwani Kumar, accused in the murder of anti-drug activist Parwinder Singh Jhota, escalated in Mansa on Wednesday when protesters took over the demolition of a medical store and set it on fire after removing medicines from the premises.
The district administration and police had brought JCB machines to demolish Kumar’s house on Gurdwara Road and his medical store near the railway tracks in Mansa, according to the report. The action followed Kumar’s arrest in Rajasthan in connection with the killing of Jhota, who was described by supporters as a whistleblower campaigning against the sale of prohibited drugs.
After a portion of the medical store was demolished, supporters of Jhota entered the premises and continued pulling down the structure. They threw medicines outside before setting the shop ablaze. The incident took place amid heavy police deployment, with personnel present when the fire was started.
One protester displayed strips of pregabalin capsules and claimed that the drug was prohibited in Punjab. Supporters said Jhota had been opposing the sale of prohibited substances and had no personal enmity with the shop owner, disputing claims attributed to authorities. These claims were made by protesters at the site and were not independently established in the supplied report.
The protesters said they had taken control of the demolition because the state government had failed to deliver justice. They described the action as “people’s justice” and criticised the government’s anti-drug campaign, contrasting its stated “war against drugs” with what they called a war against people attempting to stop drug sales.
The incident has placed two separate actions alongside each other: the administration’s demolition drive against properties associated with the accused and the subsequent destruction and arson carried out by protesters. Bathinda Deputy Inspector General Harjit Singh said the demolition action had been conducted after the requisite formalities were completed. The report did not provide further details about the legal basis of the demolition, the fire investigation or action against those involved in setting the shop ablaze.
