On Friday, 16 October 2026, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs would request a detailed report from the Punjab government on the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa district, a development that added to the pressure facing the Aam Aadmi Party administration.

Shah pointed to a widening drug trade as one pressure bearing down on the province, alongside what he described as persistent gaps in keeping residents safe. At a recent address, the Home Minister drew attention to the exposure faced by whistleblowers, pointing out that organised criminal networks and illicit narcotics cartels maintain active operations along the border region.

Multiple fatalities tied to narcotics use drew enough public notice across Punjab that federal authorities moved to intervene. A formal request for a detailed account of steps taken has been directed by the Union Home Ministry to the Bhagwant Mann administration, following the fatal shooting of Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa earlier that week — a man who had been active in community-level efforts to counter local drug networks.

An unrelated incident in Dirba — where a local resident died after being made to consume a fatal amount of drugs — also drew the Ministry of Home Affairs into the matter, with the ministry expected to request a formal explanation of how the district administration and police responded.

According to Shah, the ongoing spread of narcotics networks has produced conditions in which residents and those who publicly oppose cartels become targets of organised violence. Via a Punjabi-language post on X, Shah directed pressure at the state's leadership over what he described as institutional involvement in drug distribution, urging Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to pursue accountability and take coordinated action against narcotics networks spanning multiple districts.

The Home Minister also urged that any probe be both open and free from partisan influence, targeting reported ties between political figures and those involved in organised crime and drug trafficking across the state. At the same event, Shah put forward what he characterised as a governing priority for any BJP-led state administration: directing police resources toward breaking narcotics supply chains, dismantling organised criminal networks, protecting young people identified as vulnerable, and enabling residents to move through public spaces without fear.

Arrests were made and administrative proceedings set in motion by police in Mansa, steps that came as public demonstrations gathered momentum and oversight from central authorities grew. Beant Kaur, who held the post of Station House Officer at City-2 Police Station in Mansa, was removed from duty after district authorities found her responsible for lapses in jurisdictional oversight. Both the person who fired the weapon and several others involved were taken into detention.