Parvinder Singh Jhota

Parvinder Singh Jhota, also known in some reports as Parminder Singh Jhota, was an anti-drug activist from Mansa, in the Indian state of Punjab. Before he became known as a campaigner against drug abuse, he had been a freestyle kabaddi player, and he carried that same combative, public-facing energy into his later work confronting people he believed were selling drugs in his home district.

Jhota's signature effort was a grassroots campaign he called 'Nasha Roko Rozgar Dio', which translates roughly as 'stop drugs, give employment', a slogan that went door to door through villages in Mansa. He worked with an informal anti-drug task force and became known locally and then nationally for walking up to suspected dealers, often filming the encounters and broadcasting them live on Facebook and Instagram so that the public could see the confrontations as they happened.

Associated with an anti-drug task force, Jhota remained active while campaigning against drug trafficking and the alleged sale of addictive substances in Punjab, even confronting individuals suspected of selling drugs and mobilising local communities to oppose the drug menace.

His activism was not without controversy or personal cost. He was arrested and released by police on several occasions over the course of his campaign, and at one point was himself found positive in a dope test, a fact that complicated the public image of a man positioning himself as an anti-drug crusader. In September, he had spent time in Muktsar jail before being released

following a court order after the police and complainant took back the complaint, with the Anti-Drug Task Force declaring his release a victory of their struggle.

Supporters saw him as a fearless community voice willing to put himself in danger to expose drug dealing that police were not stopping; critics and some officials questioned his methods and the legal troubles that followed him.

On the morning of 13 October 2026, Jhota went with several companions to a medical store in Mansa to confront the owner, whom he accused of illegally selling 'chitta', a street name for heroin, and he was livestreaming the confrontation on Facebook as it unfolded.

The confrontation turned violent while he was livestreaming what he alleged was the sale of heroin, and he was shot during the encounter.

Four of his companions also suffered bullet injuries in the incident, which was captured during the Facebook Live broadcast.

He was rushed to Mansa Civil Hospital but could not be saved.

The injured men were taken to Mansa Civil Hospital, where doctors declared Jhota dead on arrival.

The killing happened months before closely watched state assembly elections in Punjab, and it immediately became a political flashpoint.

The brutal killing of Jhota raised major concerns over the safety and security of those campaigning against drug abuse and the alleged illegal sale of intoxicating substances in the state.

Opposition politicians, including BJP figures, publicly criticised the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government over the circumstances of his death, and demanded accountability for how an activist who had made his movements and warnings so public could be shot while broadcasting live. His mother spoke to reporters afterward, recalling the dangers he had feared he might one day face because of his work.