Follow-up: after the body reached PGIMER

This story follows Awaaz Punjab's earlier report that Parvinder Singh Jhota's body was sent from Mansa to PGIMER Chandigarh for post-mortem shortly before midnight on Thursday, nearly 23 days after his death, and that released protest leaders Lakha Sidhana and Mohanjit Sheron had reached Mansa hospital. The fast described below began after the body reached PGIMER. Read the earlier report: body sent to PGIMER for post-mortem

Chandigarh / Mansa, November 6: Bhim Singh, father of slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, has begun an indefinite fast at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh, demanding the transfer of Mansa Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vaibhav Chaudhary, Punjab Chronicle and National Times reported on Friday.

Source: Punjab Chronicle

Bhim Singh said he will consume only water until the SSP is transferred, and that he is prepared to continue the fast even at the cost of his health and life if the demand is not addressed. PunjabeNews quoted him as saying: 'From now on, I will not eat even a single grain of food. I will continue my fight against drugs. Even if I lose my life in this struggle, I will have no regret.'

Source: PunjabeNews

He has also refused the Punjab government's offer of Rs 2 crore in compensation and a government job for the family. PunjabeNews reported that Bhim Singh said the family wants neither the financial compensation nor government employment, and that the fight against drugs would continue.

Source: PunjabeNews

The one demand left unresolved

The fast follows a meeting on Wednesday in Mansa between the family, members of the Justice Action Committee and a Punjab government delegation led by Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian. Bhim Singh said he had accepted the other decisions reached in that meeting, but the transfer of the Mansa SSP remained unresolved. He also said his daughter-in-law Manpreet Kaur, Jhota's wife, had expressed unwillingness to accept the government job offered to her and had asked him not to accept the compensation either, Punjab Chronicle and National Times reported.

Source: National Times

Protests enter the 25th day

Demonstrations over Jhota's killing continued for the 25th consecutive day on Friday, National Times reported, even after Lakha Sidhana, Mohanjit Sheron and nine other protesters were released from different jails on Thursday evening. Jhota's body had remained at the Mansa Civil Hospital mortuary for more than three weeks while the family withheld consent for the post-mortem; the deadlock ended after Wednesday's meeting, and the body was taken to PGIMER late on Thursday night.

Background: the October 13 killing

Parvinder Singh Jhota was shot dead on October 13 in Mansa town during a confrontation at a medical store over the alleged sale of addictive medicines. The killing triggered widespread protests across Mansa. The investigation has been transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The government had offered Rs 2 crore in compensation and a government job for Jhota's wife, and the SHO, DSP and drug inspector concerned had earlier been suspended, Punjab Khabarnama reported. All allegations in the killing case remain to be proved in court.

What happens next is whether the Punjab government acts on the family's remaining demand for the Mansa SSP's transfer, and how long Bhim Singh's fast at PGIMER continues. The post-mortem examination at PGIMER is the next procedural step in the CBI-investigated case.