Chandigarh/Mansa: The post-mortem of slain anti-drug crusader Parvinder Singh Jhota could not be conducted at PGIMER-Chandigarh on Friday as his father Bhim Singh announced a hunger strike, demanding transfer of Mansa SSP Vaibhav Chaudhary.Singh, a former Armyman, said he will fast indefinitely and only take water until his demand is met. He holds the SSP responsible for his son’s death and seeks a probe against him.Singh said he would approach Union home minister Amit Shah for action against the Mansa SSP if Punjab govt didn’t listen to him. “Before Jhota’s body reaches Mansa for cremation, the Mansa SSP must be transferred out,” he said.ADGP Gautam Cheema, part of the govt panel that held talks with the Insaaf Committee, said there never was a demand for transfer of Mansa SSP nor was it discussed in the talks. “That is his personal sentiment,” Cheema said.On Thursday, the standoff seemed over as govt released the arrested protesters after talks between the govt panel and Insaf Committee. It appeared that the family would allow the autopsy. Accordingly, Jhota’s body, which has been kept in a freezer since Oct 13, was brought from Mansa to PGI-Chandigarh on Thursday night.On Friday, though, things changed dramatically as Bhim Singh got upset over social media posts that a private fund-raising effort had gathered over Rs 1 crore and that the family had accepted Rs 2 crore compensation from govt and a job for Jhota’s wife Manpreet Kaur. A Punjabi man living in Australia had on Thursday posted on Facebook that over Rs 1 crore had been raised and transferred to the account of Jhota’s wife on Nov 5.Visibly perturbed over what he described as “character assassination” of the family by “touts of the govt”, Singh announced he was turning down the govt offer of Rs 2 crore for the family and a govt job.He took exception to fund-raising for the family, saying, “I had declared since day one not to raise money for my family. If someone raises funds or contributes to fundraising, it is their mistake. I get a pension. My daughter-in-law (Jhota’s wife) gets a salary of Rs 19,000 to Rs 20,000. We have bank accounts. And if someone deposits money in those accounts, what is our mistake?”Singh said Jhota’s wife was also against receiving any financial help, saying that “a large amount of money may spoil children“. In Mansa, Jhota’s mother Amarjit Kaur said, “We never demanded any money or the job.”Bhim Singh also slammed AAP-led govt for “providing six bodyguards to the family after Jhota’s murder”, saying the security was needed when Jhota was fighting against drugs “I ask Bhagwant Mann to deploy these bodyguards in his security,” Singh said.He maintained he would go by the decision reached upon after talks between govt and the Action Committee and will perform Jhota’s cremation after post-mortem, but only if the Mansa SSP is transferred and investigated. “I am a free man today. I will not eat anything,” Singh said.Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, who was part of the panel that held talks with the Insaf Committee did not respond to phone calls. Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian, who was also part of the discussions, said, “I will talk to the action committee and Bhim Singh. No one should feel hurt. I will request Bhim Singh that we should sort this out. Earlier also we had resolved the matter. This will be sorted out as well once we discuss it.”In Mansa, protesters kept waiting for updates on the postmortem and likely cremation, but by evening, it had become clear that it wasn’t going to happen on Friday.ADGP Cheema said, “The postmortem could not be conducted today. As per the latest information we have from PGI, doctors will carry out an assessment early Saturday and post mortem is likely by 9 am.” Jhota’s body is in a frozen state, said sources.
