Jhota murder 22-day deadlock ends as family agrees to autopsy cremation Punjab govt assures Rs 2 cr compensation

Mansa/Chandigarh, Nov 4 (PTI) The family of slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota on Wednesday evening agreed to his postmortem and cremation following a meeting with Punjab government representatives in Mansa, ending the 22-day-long agitation.

     The breakthrough came after a five-hour meeting between the Jhota's family, the joint action committee and the government representatives -- Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian.

     According to the agreement, the state government has agreed to the release of protesters Lakha Sidhana and others following the withdrawal of cases registered against them. The government has also assured to give compensation of Rs 2 crore to the Jhota's family and a job to his wife.

     Following the agreement, the action committee, which was leading the agitation over the murder of Jhota, agreed to suspend its proposed gherao of chief minister's residence on November 5.

     The government also agreed to a Rs 50 lakh compensation and a job to a family member of Daljit Singh of Bhamme Kalan, who died on October 27.

     Jhota was shot dead in broad daylight inside a medical store in a busy marketplace in Mansa on October 13. His body has been lying at the mortuary of the Civil Hospital in Mansa since then.

     The postmortem of Jhota is expected to be conducted at the PGIMER in Chandigarh.

     Ashwani Kumar, the store owner, had allegedly opened fire at Jhota after he questioned him for selling addictive drugs to an elderly man. Kumar was taken into custody from Salasar in Rajasthan.

     The incident, which took place while Jhota was hosting a Facebook Live session, triggered a political slugfest in Punjab, which goes to polls early next year.

     Many leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Sachin Pilot, Punjab Congress chief Pargat Singh, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon had met Jhota's family.

     The joint action committee comprising various organisations and social activists formed after Jhota's murder had been pressing for the resignations of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav.

     Action committee member Hardeep Singh Sidhu said the issue of releasing Lakha Sidhana and other leaders lodged in jails remained a major point of contention during the meeting, with discussions continuing for several hours.

     Agriculture Minister Khudian visited the family of Jhota on Tuesday evening. He was the first AAP leader who met the family to express his condolences.

     The Punjab government had earlier handed over the probe into the death of Jhota to the CBI following the family's demand.

     The government has suspended an SHO, a deputy superintendent of police and a drug inspector in connection with the case.

     Earlier, other demands of the family were accepted by the government.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)