Chandigarh: The autopsy of slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was conducted at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here on Saturday and his cremation would be done at his native place in Mansa on Sunday, a member of the joint action committee said. Jhota's murder last month triggered protests and a political row in Punjab.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), also known as the Parminder Singh Jhota Insaaf Action Committee, is a coalition of various social organisations and activists formed in Punjab after Jhota’s murder.
"The post-mortem examination of Jhota ji has been done. The body has been handed over to the family," said Gopal Sidhu, action committee member, while speaking to reporters here.
“The body will be taken to his native place in Mansa from the PGIMER (Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research) here at around 5 am on Sunday,” he further said.
The cremation was to be held on Saturday at Jhota's fields on Chakerian Road in Mansa, but it didn’t take place as the post-mortem could not be carried out on Friday.
Officials said the delay was because of various protocols that need to be followed, given that the body earlier lay in certain temperature conditions for more than 20 days in the Mansa mortuary.
Jhota's father, Bhim Singh, on Saturday called upon the youth of Punjab to pledge against drug abuse.
"We will take the body to our residence first and thereafter between 12 and 1 pm, Jhota will be cremated on Diwali Day," said Singh while speaking to reporters here.
Jhota's body was brought to PGIMER Chandigarh in the early hours of Friday, after his family ended their 22-day agitation and agreed to a post-mortem following a meeting with Punjab government representatives on Wednesday.
The body, which had been lying at the mortuary of Civil Hospital in Mansa for over three weeks, was taken in an ambulance late on Thursday night.
On Friday, Jhota's father said that he would go on a fast demanding the immediate transfer of Mansa Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Chaudhary.
Jhota's family, along with the JAC, had been sitting on a protest in Mansa seeking justice for the slain activist.
Jhota was shot dead in broad daylight at a medical store in a busy marketplace in Mansa town on October 13. The store owner, who had fired at Jhota after the activist confronted him over the sale of addictive drugs to an elderly man, was subsequently arrested.
The murder incident, which took place while Jhota was hosting a Facebook Live session, triggered a political slugfest in Punjab, which goes to polls early next year.
Opposition parties in Punjab had stepped up their attack on the Mann government over the drug issue and law and order after Jhota's murder.
The JAC had been pressing for the resignations of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav.
The Punjab government had earlier handed over the probe into Jhota's death to the CBI following his family's demand.
The state government had suspended a station house officer, a deputy superintendent of police and a drug inspector in connection with the case.
The family has been demanding setting up a trauma centre in Jhota's name and compensation for each of the four injured persons in the incident, which were agreed to by the government.
Other demands the government agreed to include installation of Jhota’s statue at either a park or a stadium.