Anti-Drug Activist & Another ASI Shot Dead; Arrests in Mad Sandhu Murder Case

October

2026

An anti-drug activist, Parvinder Singh Jhota from Mansa, was shot dead on camera on 13 Oct by a medicine shop owner. The murder was captured in a Facebook Live video he was shooting. The video shows Jhota confronting the medicine shop owner Ashwani Kumar and accusing him of selling synthetic drugs. Kumar is seen threatening Jhota with a pistol before opening fire. Police said he is now on the run. Four of Jhota’s companions also sustained bullet injuries. Many appreciated Jhota’s work; the killing has shocked his well-wishers. Meanwhile, a 55-year-old Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), Iqbal Singh, was shot dead by bike-borne assailants on his way back home from duty in Ferozpur. Iqbal served in the Counter Intelligence wing at Ferozepur. Panjab Director General of Police announced compensation of USD 100K for Iqbal’s family. Police suspect the crime might be linked to his nephew’s murder, Ajmeet Singh, who bike-borne assailants also shot on 11 Sep. Ajmeet faced half a dozen serious criminal charges, including a rocket-propelled grenade attack at the Sarhali police station, Tarn Taran district. These targeted killings put the Panjab Police in a bind with two distinct security challenges ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections—a string of attacks on police allegedly backed by Pakistan-based handlers and a spate of killings of social media influencers in the name of moral policing. Three influencers and six policemen have been targeted in recent months. Additionally, the Amritsar Police claims to have solved the murder case of social media influencer Madhusudan Singh, known as Mad Sandhu, after arresting six accused—including the alleged main shooter Parminder alias Kaka—in a joint operation with the Gujarat Police. The investigation has indicated that the murder was allegedly carried out at the behest of the Jagga gang of Tarn Taran. Sandhu was shot dead in Amritsar on the evening of 3 Oct. Police said they made arrests based on technical evidence, human intelligence, and sustained efforts following a complaint by the victim’s father, Bhupinder Singh. Sandhu was cremated after his post-mortem, days after two motorcycle-borne attackers allegedly opened fire on him in Amritsar. Sandhu’s younger brother says the friends who once spent time and money with him were nowhere to be seen at his cremation or funeral (earlier coverage).