Seven days after 42-year-old Mansa anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was shot dead in broad daylight, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday took over the probe into his murder and register a fresh first information report (FIR).
These include the resignation of chief minister Bhagwant Mann and DGP Gaurav Yadav and punitive action against officials from the police and drug departments. Following the incident, Kumar fled Punjab but was apprehended by the police in Salasar, Rajasthan. Mansa police subsequently arrested Kumar’s wife, Neelam Rani, along with two accomplices for aiding his escape.
A specialised CBI team, led by a deputy inspector general (DIG), arrived in Mansa around midnight and formally requisitioned all case files, records, and physical seizures from the City-2 police station, where the original murder case was registered on October 14. Jhota’s father on Wednesday said that the family and members of the Insaaf Committee had resolved to allow the autopsy only if their demands are met.
CBI officials visited the deceased’s residence to record statements from the family members. The family has been demanding that the post-mortem be conducted at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, by a panel of medical experts. Because the family has not given its consent for it, won’t allow autopsy till demands met: Family Jhota’s autopsy has not been conducted.
The development came hours after Union home minister Amit Shah met Jhota’s family and the announcement by Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday morning that the state would hand over the case to the CBI, bowing to the family’s demand for a central probe.
