Mansa: The panel protesting the Oct 13 killing of anti-drug activist Parwinder Singh Jhota in Punjab’s Mansa has agreed not to hold a protest outside CM Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Sangrur on Thursday.The climbdown came after a group of ministers, in a four-hour meeting with the panel members, agreed to release Parvinder Singh Jhota Insaf Morcha members Lakha Sidhana and Mohanjit Singh Sheron from jail, give a Rs 2-crore compensation to Jhota’s family, and a govt job to his wife.Jhota’s family also agreed to allow his postmortem at PGIMER, Chandigarh, provided all their demands are met. The protest in Mansa will also continue, according to the panel.Punjab assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian also announced to withdraw FIRs registered against people for protests over the killing that has sparked a fresh debate on the drug menace in Punjab.Though the ministers wanted the family to agree to Jhota’s postmortem and cremation, the panel insisted over release of the arrested duo and cancellation of cases before the family gave its nod. It was agreed police will approach court for cancellation of cases.Sandhwan called Jhota’s family loss as “irreparable”. “Govt has decided to accept certain demands,” he said. Jhota’s father Bhim Singh thanked Sandhwan and Khudian for agreeing to the demands.
