A murder live-streamed spotlights the desperation and limits of Punjab’s anti-drug crusaders

A fortnight after the public murder of anti-drug crusader Parvinder Singh Jhota, his face turns up across Mansa city in Punjab – as posters on vehicles and massive hoardings towering over the city and, most visibly, at a long-drawn highway protest against his death.

Many of the posters feature an AI-generated representation of Jhota’s last moments, when he lay bleeding from gunshot wounds of his assailant.

On October 13, Jhota, who led a self-styled group of anti-drug volunteers in Mansa district, did what he was known for – he landed up with a smartphone at the shop of a drugstore owner and accused him of selling banned drugs. The confrontation turned violent. The chemist, Ashwini Kumar, shot Jhota multiple times with his licensed pistol, then chased him down a street and shot him again.

The murder was caught on camera, as Jhota and his team typically streamed their raids live on Facebook.

Jhota’s killing has resonated beyond Mansa, quickly becoming a symbol of the impunity of drug peddlers in Punjab and putting the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government under significant pressure ahead of Assembly elections.

Jhota’s family has refused to cremate his body or even allow a post-mortem unless Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the state police...

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