India, Oct. 16 -- A 40-year-old man was killed and two of his companions were critically injured in an armed assault at Madi Pannwan village near Sri Hargobindpur in Batala on Thursday evening, police said on Friday. The victims were targeted for opposing drug peddling in their neighbourhood.

The assault comes close on the heels of the October 13 killing of anti-drug activist Parwinder Singh Jhota in Mansa for confronting a medical store owner, Ashwini Kumar, over the synthetic drug trade. While Ashwini was arrested and a Punjab bandh was called on Thursday to protest the murder, recurring violence against residents taking on local narcotics networks has triggered anger and concern across the state.

Thursday's attack occurred around 8pm...