Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal has written to Union home minister Amit Shah seeking a CBI probe into the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa and a wider investigation into the alleged politician-police-drug mafia nexus in Punjab.In a letter dated Oct 18, the Bathinda MP alleged that Jhota was killed after exposing “the illegal sale of controlled pharmaceutical substances and synthetic drugs in the region”.She sought an investigation into the role of police officials, drug inspectors and political leaders in the drug trade and the killing.Enclosing a statement, which she claimed was submitted by Jhota’s father, Bhim Singh, to the police, Harsimrat said the family had raised questions about the alleged shielding of drug offenders and threats against the activist.She claimed Bhim Singh named several police officials, accusing them of involvement in the drug trade and responsibility for his son’s death.Harsimrat also questioned the response to Jhota’s call to a local police officer before he went to a medical store where he was subsequently shot.She flagged the firearm licence held by the accused, Ashwani Kumar.Kumar was “accused of selling controlled psychotropic drugs several times and had also been jailed for some time but was able to procure a weapon licence which the then Mansa SSP approved in 2024, a few months after he was released from jail”.The MP urged Shah to include other cases involving people who spoke against drugs, including those of Mohanjit Singh of Sunam and Gulzar Singh, in a comprehensive investigation into alleged action against anti-drug activists.Jhota was shot dead in Mansa on October 13. Ashwani Kumar was arrested in connection with the case.“There are numerous other cases of whistleblowers being forced into silence even as drug traffickers have a field day in Punjab. Only a comprehensive probe into the entire drug racket in Punjab under the Aam Aadmi Party govt can expose these messengers of death and provide relief to Punjabis from this scourge, which is threatening to consume an entire generation,” Harsimrat wrote.
