The 13 October shooting of Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa sparked a city‑wide bandh that shut schools, markets and the railway station for a full day.
Jhota, a local anti‑drug campaigner, was shot after a quarrel with a medical store owner over alleged illicit drug sales; his body was found on the street beside the station, and his wife, Meera, still holds a white flag outside the police station demanding justice.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann rebuffed Shah’s accusations, insisting the centre had no jurisdiction over Punjab’s law‑and‑order matters and pointing to the BSF’s 50‑km border zone.
The death of Gulzar Singh, a resident of Dirba who reportedly ingested poison after publicly warning about heroin availability, has already been taken to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has demanded a status report from the state.
Mann’s government has defended its ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ drive, citing a 2021 seizure of nearly 3,000 kg of heroin at Gujarat’s Mundra Port, and warned that blaming Punjab alone would be unfair.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has said it will issue a formal notice to the Punjab government, and the report is due by 30 October, after which the central government will decide on further action.