Parvinder Singh Jhota, who had campaigned against drug use in the area, was shot and killed on Tuesday in front of a medical shop in Punjab's Mansa district, with the incident drawing public reaction and raising questions about policing and governance under the state's Aam Aadmi Party administration.
Police reported that a pharmacy owner opened fire on Jhota after Jhota raised objections over the outlet's supply of prohibited habit-forming substances to another individual. Paramedics transported him to hospital, but attending physicians confirmed he had died before arriving.
A search operation was launched to locate the suspect, who had left the area before authorities arrived. According to law enforcement, Jhota had been using his mobile phone to capture the dispute on video. A clip posted online captured Jhota's voice describing how Ashwani, who ran the medical store, had drawn a pistol.
Bathinda Range DIG Harjeet Singh told reporters that officers learned of the incident at around 10.30 a.m., and that early indications pointed to the perpetrator having carried out the act with a firearm held under a valid licence. A second person linked to the case has been taken into custody.
A manhunt for Ashwani remained under way, while the Deputy Inspector General noted that the dispute may have roots in a longstanding personal conflict between the two parties. Vaibhav Choudhary, Senior Superintendent of Police for Mansa, stated that a thorough investigation was in progress and that an arrest was expected within 24 hours.
Jhota, whose earlier years were spent in professional boxing, had been leading the 'Nasha Roko, Rozgaar Do' initiative — an effort to address drug use across Mansa and the districts surrounding it.
Dozens of residents gathered in demonstration outside the Mansa civil hospital in the wake of the incident. Retail outlets across the area had their doors closed as well. A group of demonstrators caused damage to a pharmacy belonging to the individual facing charges.
Jhota's relatives withheld consent for cremation, pointing to what they described as the government's inadequate response to the drug abuse problem. Family members assembled along the Barnala-Sirsa road in Mansa to block traffic, a move that prompted the Opposition to direct pointed criticism toward the AAP administration.
Nitin Nabin, the BJP's national president, linked the death of Jhota — a Mansa resident who had publicly voiced opposition to drug use — to what he characterised as a breakdown in law and order under the current Punjab administration, while noting that the Aam Aadmi Party had come to power on a commitment to address the state's drug problem. In a post on X, Nabin called on authorities to provide both transparency and accountability to the people of Punjab.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, a Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former parliamentarian, urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to vacate his post, contending that narcotics traffickers had become emboldened enough under the current administration to mount open assaults on anti-drug personnel.
Bajwa — who heads the opposition bench in the assembly and occupies a senior post within Congress — contended that the killing of Jhota exposed shortcomings in the AAP government's 'Yudh Nasheyan Virudh' anti-drug programme, raising the question of how an administration could plausibly assert its commitment to ridding Punjab of narcotics while those working to disrupt drug networks were themselves being targeted.
Baltej Pannu, who holds the roles of Punjab media in-charge and State general secretary (Organisation) for AAP, conveyed that initial police findings point to personal enmity as the motive behind Jhota's killing. Pannu also stated that regardless of what triggered the confrontation between the parties involved, individuals are not entitled to bypass legal processes and act as enforcers of their own judgment.
