A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking transfer of the investigation into the daylight killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh alias Parminder Singh alias Jhota in Mansa to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

In a Facebook Live broadcast started by Jhota, he entered a local chemist shop near the railway crossing in Mansa, Punjab, to confront the owner, Ashwini Kumar, over the suspected illegal sale of habit-forming pharmaceutical drugs. In the live video, Kumar was seen shooting Jhota.

The FIR was registered on October 14, 2026 at Police Station City-2, Mansa. It invokes Sections 103(1), 109, 118(1), 61(2) and 3(5) of the BNS and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act.

The petition also seeks independent inquiries into how the accused chemist's drug licence and arms licence were granted, renewed and continued, the police's alleged failure to respond to the deceased's call, the delay in shifting him to hospital.

The petitioner stated that he is a social worker from Rania in Haryana's Sirsa district, which borders Mansa and Bathinda in Punjab. The petition says people in these areas share close social, economic, religious and family ties and regularly travel between the two States. It contends that the killing and the resulting unrest affect citizens' fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(d) and 21.

According to the petition, the deceased was about 45 years old and a former freestyle kabaddi player. He ran an “Anti-Drug Task Force” and exposed the illegal sale of intoxicants at medical stores through live videos on his Facebook page, which had about 63,000 followers.

In July 2023, he had raised allegations that banned intoxicating capsules were being sold by Ashwani Kumar, who owns a medical store on Bathinda Road, Mansa. A case was registered against the accused on his complaint, and a cross-case was registered against the deceased. He was taken into custody and released in September 2023.

The petition says that on October 13, 2026, the deceased saw a person leaving the store after allegedly buying intoxicating capsules. He began recording a video, questioned the accused, and called the police, but they did not arrive. While he was questioning the accused, the accused allegedly opened fire.

The petition alleges that the police took about 20 to 25 minutes to reach the spot after the firing, and that the deceased was not immediately taken to hospital. He was declared brought dead at Civil Hospital, Mansa.

Title: Hukam Singh v. State of Punjab & others