Union Home Minister Amit Shah. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Punjab on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) as part of his day-long visit to Gurdaspur, Sangrur and Mansa to meet the family members of those who died in incidents linked to the opposition to the drug menace in the State.
Ahead of Mr. Shah’s Punjab visit, tight security arrangements have been made in three districts.
Mr. Shah first reached Mari Panwan village in Gurdaspur’s Batala, where he met the family of Bikramjit Singh, who was killed on October 15, allegedly for opposing drug peddling in his area.
Police, however, had said the murder was the fallout of a scuffle between two groups over a mobile phone.
After meeting the family of Bikramjit Singh, Mr. Shah is scheduled to visit Sangrur district, where he will be meeting the family of Gulzar Singh, a Dalit man, who died by suicide on September 7. His family alleged that he consumed poison after being harassed and subjected to casteist slurs for questioning Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema about the supply of drugs in his locality.
Later, Mr. Shah would visit Mansa, where he will be meeting the family of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, who was killed last week by a medical store owner.
Jhota’s father, Bhim Singh, had said on Monday (October 19, 2026) that he would raise a demand for a CBI probe into his son’s murder when he meets Shah.
Known for raising his voice against the illegal sale of addictive substances at chemist shops, Jhota was shot in broad daylight inside a medical store at a busy marketplace in Mansa on October 13.
Ashwani Kumar, the store owner who opened fire on Jhota after he questioned him for selling addictive drugs to an elderly man, was taken into custody from Rajasthan’s Salasar.
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.
Hours before Mr. Shah’s visit, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said his government has decided to hand over the Jhota murder case to the CBI.
Published – October 20, 2026 01:44 pm IST
