Punjab Anti-Drug Activist Shot Dead During Facebook Live After Confronting Medical Store Owner

An anti-drug activist, Parvinder Singh Jhota, was allegedly shot dead by a medical store owner in Punjab’s Mansa on Tuesday after he confronted the shopkeeper over the alleged illegal sale of addictive drugs.

Jhota was known for exposing the alleged illegal sale of intoxicating medicines at chemist shops across Mansa and nearby areas. The incident occurred while he was livestreaming the confrontation on his Facebook account.

A five-minute video showed Jhota standing outside the medical store alongside an elderly man who allegedly claimed to have purchased drugs from the shop.

A heated argument broke out between Jhota and the shop owner, who was seen holding a pistol.

During the confrontation, Jhota repeatedly told the shopkeeper, “Maar mujhe, maar mujhe” (Kill me, kill me), and questioned why he was carrying a pistol.

Jhota was also heard asking his associates to call the police and bring more people to the spot. He subsequently demanded that the shopkeeper show the CCTV footage.

When the shopkeeper asked the elderly man whether he had purchased drugs from him, Jhota responded that they had a recording of the alleged transaction.

After around four minutes of argument, the shopkeeper allegedly opened fire, killing Jhota. His mobile phone then fell to the ground, bringing the Facebook livestream to an abrupt end. The accused shop owner was reported to be absconding following the incident.

Jhota had been actively campaigning against drug abuse and the alleged illegal sale of addictive substances through certain medical stores for several years. He had more than 24,000 followers on Facebook, where videos of his interventions frequently circulated.

He had previously come into the spotlight in 2023 following a dispute involving a medical store owner. On July 12 that year, a confrontation reportedly broke out between Jhota, his associates and a shopkeeper.

Following the incident, police registered cases against Jhota and some of his associates. He was arrested in July 2023 on allegations including assault, trespassing and rioting, and was released approximately two months later.

The daylight killing has triggered a political controversy in Punjab, with opposition leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal criticising the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over law and order and its flagship anti-drug campaign, ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’.

BJP leader Sunil Jakhar said the murder had exposed the reality of the state government’s campaign against drugs. He questioned whether preventing the illegal sale of addictive medicines was not the responsibility of drug inspectors.

Congress leader Amarinder Singh Raja Warring described the killing as a consequence of the alleged failure of the state’s law-and-order system and the government’s anti-drug campaign.

Warring said Jhota had raised his voice against Punjab’s drug problem but had not received support from the AAP government.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia also questioned the state government over its efforts to tackle drug abuse. Referring to reports that the problem of pharmaceutical drugs was growing in Punjab, Majithia sought details of the measures taken to curb the menace and the quantity of illegally supplied intoxicating medicines seized.

He also questioned the accountability of drug inspectors in preventing the illegal sale of such substances.

There was no immediate response from AAP leaders to the opposition’s allegations.

The killing has once again brought Punjab’s drug problem, alleged illegal sales of addictive medicines and the state’s law-and-order situation into sharp focus.