The Punjab government has handed the investigation into the killing of anti-drug activist Parwinder Singh Jhota to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced on Tuesday, hours before Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s scheduled visit to Mansa to meet the bereaved family.
Mann said the decision followed a demand from Jhota’s family. In a post on X, the chief minister wrote, “We are with the family of Parwinder Singh Jhota who was fighting against the drugs. Accepting the demand of the family, this case is being handed over to the CBI. The fight against drugs is decisive, whatever step has to be taken to make Punjab as drugs free will be taken.”
The transfer places the case with the central investigative agency after Jhota’s father, Bhim Singh, had repeatedly sought a CBI probe. According to the report, Bhim Singh had said that if the state government did not accept his demand, he would raise the issue with Amit Shah during the Union home minister’s visit and seek his intervention.
Jhota was killed in Mansa on October 13. Following the killing, an action committee was formed to pursue the family’s demands. The bereaved family and members of the committee subsequently met a committee constituted by the Punjab government, where Bhim Singh and his daughter-in-law, Manpreet Kaur, reiterated their request for a CBI investigation.
The case has therefore become both a criminal investigation and a test of institutional confidence for the family and supporters of the slain activist. The demand for a central probe indicates that the family did not consider an investigation by state agencies sufficient, although the supplied report does not provide details of the earlier investigation, the registered offences, suspects, arrests or the evidence collected so far.
The decision also comes against the backdrop of Punjab’s continuing political and administrative focus on tackling drug abuse. Mann said the government would take whatever steps were necessary to make Punjab drug-free, but the announcement did not specify the formal procedure or timeline for transferring the case records to the CBI.
Amit Shah’s visit to Mansa was scheduled for the same day as the announcement, with the Union home minister expected to meet Jhota’s family. The next stage will involve the formal handover of the investigation and the CBI’s action on the case, including the examination of records and evidence from the state authorities.
