Anti-drug activist Parvinder Jhota shot dead during Facebook Live at Mansa medical store

Anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was shot dead in Mansa, Punjab, on Monday morning. He was on Facebook Live at the time, so the entire incident was recorded on camera. The film "Udta Punjab" had put the state's drug problem before the public, but the incident has once again raised the question of whether the fight against drugs is still going on.

Jhota was a social activist working against drugs. He headed an anti-drug task force, was a well-known social worker and had earlier been a kabaddi player.

According to the available information, he had gone to a medical store near the railway crossing in Mansa city. He accused the store's owner, Ashwani, of selling intoxicants and sought an answer from him. He was conducting a sting operation through Facebook Live at the time. The argument between the two kept escalating.

At around 9 am on Monday, after the argument escalated, the store owner is said to have drawn a pistol and fired at Jhota. After being hit, Jhota ran across the road to save his life but collapsed in a shop a short distance away. He was rushed to hospital but died during treatment. The entire shooting was captured on Facebook Live and the video is going viral on social media.

Questions are also being raised about the role of the police. It is alleged that the police were called to act against the drug trade and to help, but did not provide help in time.

The BJP wrote on social media that Jhota's father has levelled serious allegations against the Aam Aadmi Party government and Mansa MLA Vijay Singla, while Jhota's mother claimed the family had been receiving death threats. The BJP sought answers from Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, asking why fighting drugs in Punjab has become a matter of risking one's life and who will take responsibility for this failure.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema said Jhota's murder in Mansa had shaken everyone. According to him, Jhota ran a movement against drugs and exposed those involved in the drug trade. He had been doing this work for five to six years. Wherever he received a complaint about drugs, he went there and protested, and the police had sent him to jail several times. Cheema said a chemist involved in drug trafficking took out a pistol during a live interview and shot him, which he called a vivid example of the state of law and order in Punjab. He said that when even the police are not safe and anti-drug activists are not safe, the question is how the Bhagwant Mann government is fighting the war on drugs, and that the government should take responsibility.

The Congress has also targeted the Aam Aadmi Party government over the incident. It asked how the government will fight the war on drugs if the police and the activists fighting drugs in Punjab are themselves not safe. After this incident, serious questions have again been raised in Punjab over law and order and government action against drugs.