Jhota's body brought from Mansa autopsy at PGIMER Chandigarh today

Chandigarh, Nov 6 (PTI) The body of slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota has been brought here from Mansa for a post-mortem at the PGIMER on Friday after his family agreed to it and ended their 22-day agitation following a meeting with Punjab government representatives.

    The body, which had been lying at the mortuary of the civil hospital in Mansa for over three weeks, was shifted to the PGIMER in an ambulance late Thursday night.

    Jhota was shot dead in broad daylight inside a medical store at a busy marketplace in Mansa on October 13.

    His father Bhim Singh told reporters at the PGIMER on Friday that the family will head back to Mansa with the body after the post-mortem is conducted.

    The last rites will be performed on Friday or Saturday, depending on what time they reach Mansa, he said.

    A joint action committee seeking justice for Jhota had sought the release of two of its arrested members, among other demands.

    The arrested members, including Lakhvir Singh alias Lakha Sidhana, were released from the Nabha district jail on Thursday evening.

    On Thursday night, Jhota's body was taken in an ambulance from the civil hospital in Mansa to Chandigarh.

    After a three-week deadlock, the breakthrough came on Wednesday after a five-hour meeting between Jhota's family, the joint action committee and government representatives, including Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian.

    Following the talks, the state government agreed to release the protesters and withdraw the cases registered against them. It also assured Rs 2 crore compensation to Jhota's family and a job for his wife.

    On October 13, Ashwani Kumar, the medical store owner, opened fire at Jhota after the latter 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, triggered a political slugfest in Punjab, which goes to polls early next year.

    Many leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress’ 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 opposition parties in Punjab had stepped up their attack on the Bhagwant Mann government over the issues of drugs and law and order after Jhota's murder.

    The joint action committee comprising various organisations and social activists had been pressing for the resignations of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Punjab Police DGP Gaurav Yadav.

    Agriculture Minister Khudian visited Jhota’s family on Tuesday evening, the first AAP leader to meet the bereaved.

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

    The government also suspended an SHO, a DSP and a drug inspector in connection with the case.

    The family's demands to set up a trauma centre in Jhota's memory and compensation for each of the four injured in the incident were also met.

    The other demands, which the government agreed to, include a statue of Jhota at a suitable point in Mansa.

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