Jhota’s body brought to Chandigarh, autopsy at PGIMER today

• Parvinder Singh Jhota’s body has been moved to Chandigarh’s PGIMER for a post-mortem after his family ended a 22-day agitation

• Punjab government assurances include Rs 2 crore compensation, a job for his wife and withdrawal of cases against protesters

• The anti-drug activist was shot dead at a Mansa medical store on 13 October; the investigation has been handed to the CBI

The body of slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was brought to Chandigarh’s PGIMER for a post-mortem on Friday after his family agreed to the examination and ended a 22-day agitation following talks with Punjab government representatives.

An ambulance carrying the body left the civil hospital in Mansa late on Thursday night. It had remained in the hospital mortuary for more than three weeks as the family and a joint action committee pressed their demands.

Jhota’s father, Bhim Singh, told reporters at PGIMER that the family would return to Mansa with the body after the post-mortem. The last rites would take place on Friday or Saturday, depending on when they reached home, he said.

The deadlock was broken on Wednesday during a five-hour meeting involving the family, the joint action committee and government representatives, including Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian.

The government agreed to release arrested protesters and withdraw cases registered against them. It also assured the family of Rs 2 crore in compensation and a job for Jhota’s wife.

Two arrested committee members, including Lakhvir Singh, also known as Lakha Sidhana, were released from Nabha district jail on Thursday evening. Their release had been among the committee’s demands.

Jhota was shot dead inside a medical store in a busy Mansa marketplace on 13 October. According to the account of the incident, shop owner Ashwani Kumar opened fire after Jhota questioned him over the sale of addictive drugs to an elderly man. Kumar was subsequently taken into custody in Salasar, Rajasthan.

The shooting took place while Jhota was broadcasting live on Facebook, fuelling public anger and a political confrontation over drugs and law and order in Punjab ahead of Assembly elections early next year.

Opposition parties intensified their criticism of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s government after the killing. The joint action committee, comprising social activists and representatives of several organisations, had demanded the resignations of Mann and Punjab Police Director General Gaurav Yadav.

Several political leaders visited the family, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Sachin Pilot and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Khudian met the bereaved family on Tuesday evening, becoming the first Aam Aadmi Party leader to do so.

The state government had earlier transferred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation at the family’s request. A station house officer, a deputy superintendent of police and a drug inspector were also suspended in connection with the case.

Other demands accepted by the government include a trauma centre in Jhota’s memory, compensation for the four people injured in the shooting and a statue of the activist at a suitable location in Mansa.

With PTI inputs