Mansa: The body of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was expected to be shifted from Mansa civil hospital to PGIMER, Chandigarh, late Thursday night for a postmortem by a board of doctors, paving the way for his likely cremation on Friday.An ambulance had been stationed outside the hospital mortuary to transport the body. A team from the CBI was also present to complete formalities for the postmortem.The move followed the release of two arrested members of the panel that had been seeking justice for the Oct 13 killing. Lakhvir Singh alias Lakha Sidhana and Mohanjit Singh Sheron were released from Nabha district jail on Thursday evening. Nine others lodged in Bathinda jail under preventive custody were also released.Jhota’s father Bhim Singh, mother and wife Manpreet Kaur visited the mortuary to be with his body. The protest that had been launched to seek justice in the case is still on in Mansa. It could be called off tomorrow too.The developments followed a four-hour meeting between a group of ministers and the Parvinder Singh Jhota Insaf Committee on Wednesday. The govt had agreed to release the two arrested committee members, pay a Rs 2-crore compensation to Jhota’s family and provide a govt job to his wife. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian had also announced the withdrawal of FIRs registered against people who protested over the killing.The committee had agreed to call off its proposed protest outside CM Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Sangrur but maintained that its agitation in Mansa would continue. It had made the postmortem and cremation conditional on the release of the arrested duo and cancellation of cases against protesters. The govt had agreed to approach the court for cancellation of the cases.Earlier on Thursday, Mansa chief judicial magistrate Rajinder Singh Nagpal issued release warrants directing the superintendent of New District Jail, Nabha, to release Sidhana and Sheron in FIR No. 198, registered on Oct 28, provided they were not required in any other case. The warrants followed applications moved by the state seeking their release.The process to cancel the case registered against protesters under various charges, including attempt to murder, has also been initiated.Jhota’s father Bhim Singh had thanked Sandhwan and Khudian for accepting the family’s demands. Sandhwan had described the loss suffered by the family as “irreparable”.
