After the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, the 2019 murder of drug officer Neha Shoree has returned to focus, and both cases involved allegations of illegal drug sales and brought attention to the risks faced by people taking action against the misuse of medicines in Punjab.
Shoree, a government drug officer, was shot dead inside her office in Kharar on March 29, 2019, and the accused, a chemist whose shop licence she had cancelled years earlier, was also found dead after shooting himself. More than seven years later, Jhota, 45, was killed in Mansa during a confrontation with a medical store owner over the alleged sale of intoxicating medicines.
Although the two killings took place in different circumstances, they have renewed questions about the enforcement of drug laws and the alleged illegal sale of prescription medicines in Punjab.
Neha Shoree was a drug inspector in Punjab's Health Department who later took charge as a district zonal licensing authority and she was selected through the Punjab Public Service Commission in 2007 and joined the department in Ropar in October that year.
In 2013, she was assigned the responsibility of district zonal licensing authority. Her work involved regulating medicine sales and taking action against violations of drug laws.
During her tenure as a drug inspector in Ropar, Shoree had conducted raids on chemist shops and seized banned drugs, according to reports. Her work brought her into the debate surrounding the sale of prohibited and potentially addictive medicines.
On March 29, 2019, she was shot dead at her office in Kharar, near Mohali. The accused was identified as Balwinder Singh, a chemist from Morinda.
According to the police investigation, Balwinder Singh was aggrieved over the cancellation of his chemist shop's licence by Shoree in 2009. Police also said he was upset because his wife had subsequently been denied a licence to operate a chemist shop.
He reached Shoree's office and shot her before shooting himself. The incident triggered demands for a detailed investigation into whether the killing was linked to the wider drug trade in Punjab.
Shoree's family alleged that people involved in the illegal sale and distribution of pharmaceutical drugs could have been behind her murder. They believed she had been targeted because of her action against the sale of intoxicants in the Ropar and Kharar region.
The allegations led to demands for a wider probe. The then Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, handed the investigation to ADGP Prabodh Kumar, who headed the Bureau of Investigation, however, in December 2019, the police informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that their investigation had found no involvement of the drug mafia or any other person besides the accused in Shoree's murder.
Her family continued to question the findings and seek further investigation. The killing also raised concerns about the safety of officers responsible for enforcing drug licensing rules and in September 2019, the Punjab government approved financial benefits worth around Rs 31 lakh for her family.
The two cases are separate, but both have brought the alleged illegal sale of addictive medicines into focus.
Jhota had become known in Mansa for confronting medical store owners whom he accused of selling intoxicating pills and prohibited substances. He recorded such confrontations and shared videos on social media.
The parents of Neha Shoree, were denied entry to the residence of Jhota to meet Shah. Shoree’s father, a 1971 war veteran, and her mother, a retired schoolteacher, repeatedly requested the police to let them in, but in vain.
However, this time Shah arrived in Punjab as part of his day-long visit to Gurdaspur, Sangrur and Mansa to meet the family members of those who lost their lives after speaking up against free availability of synthetic drugs in the border state. After meeting families of deceased Bikramjit Singh in Gurdaspur and Gulzar Singh in Sangrur, Shah reached Mansa and met slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Jhota’s family as well.
His dispute with medical store owner Ashwani Kumar dated back to July 2023, when Jhota allegedly put a garland of shoes around Kumar's neck during a public confrontation over the alleged sale of synthetic drugs. A case was registered against Jhota, and he spent nearly two months in jail before being released on September 11, 2023, after the complainant approached the court to withdraw the complaint.
On October 13, 2026, Jhota confronted Kumar again over the alleged sale of intoxicating medicines. The confrontation escalated while Jhota was livestreaming on Facebook. Kumar allegedly opened fire, killing Jhota and injuring four other people.
Kumar was arrested in Rajasthan's Salasar on October 14, according to the supplied reports.
The circumstances of the two cases differ. Shoree was a government officer performing her official duties, while Jhota was an activist who publicly confronted people he accused of selling prohibited substances. Investigators in Shoree's case said they found no evidence of anyone else being involved in her murder. The investigation into Jhota's killing concerns a separate accused and a separate dispute.
Punjab's anti-drug campaigns have largely focused on narcotics, psychotropic substances and synthetic drugs. However, the misuse of prescription medicines has also emerged as a concern.
Pregabalin capsules, known in parts of the Malwa region as 'ghode wale capsules', have featured prominently in reports about drug misuse since 2023. Pregabalin is a prescription medicine used to treat conditions including nerve pain, but some people misuse it for its intoxicating effects.
In Mansa, the administration prohibited the sale of pregabalin capsules above 75 mg without a prescription in 2021. The issue gained renewed attention in 2023 amid reports that some people were switching to these capsules.
There have also been concerns about the alleged use of a 'zombie drug' in Punjab after videos showing people appearing to be in a trance circulated online. However, the Punjab Police has denied the claims.
Following Jhota's killing, the Punjab government stepped up inspections of chemist shops, bringing enforcement against the alleged illegal sale of medicines back into focus.
The deaths of Shoree and Jhota have renewed scrutiny of how drug laws are enforced in Punjab. While the investigations concern different incidents, both cases highlight the importance of enforcing medicine-sale regulations and establishing the facts through proper investigation.
