Punjab police claims cracking ex-sarpanch murder case

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Monday (January 12, 2026) said that they solved the murder case of a former sarpanch within a few days by arresting seven accused, including two hitmen.

Last week, former sarpanch Jharmal Singh was allegedly shot dead at point-blank range at a wedding hall in Amritsar; Following this, opposition parties cornered the AAP government due to the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Mr Yadav said police investigations had identified gangster Prabh Dasuwal as the mastermind behind the murder, which was committed due to old enmity, and underlined the planned and targeted nature of the crime.

He said the accused are Sukhraj Singh alias Gunga (20) from Thakkarpura in Tarn Taran, Karamjeet Singh (23) from Passanwal village in Gurdaspur, Jobanpreet Singh (19) from Bhai Ladhu village in Tarn Taran, Harpreet Singh alias Happy (27), Jobanpreet Singh alias Kulwinder Singh (20) from Bahadur Nagar village in Tarn Taran. Kinda (20) and Armandeep Singh (18) are the last three residents of Kalsian Kalan village in Tarn Taran.

He said Sukhraj Singh alias Gunga has a criminal history that includes theft and Arms Act cases and was also involved in the murder case of Sarpanch Rajwinder Singh alias Raj.

Mr. Yadav said investigations revealed that gangster Prabh Dasuwal had an old enmity with the deceased former Sarpanch and had even fired at him earlier, which clearly pointed to a planned and well-organized conspiracy. “The investigation, supported by a combination of technical surveillance and sensitive human intelligence, enabled police teams to identify Sukhraj Singh alias Gunga and Karamjeet Singh involved in the crime,” he said while addressing a press conference.

He said continuous inter-state coordination, intelligence-led pursuit and close collaboration with Central agencies and Chhattisgarh Police led to the arrest of both the shooters from Raipur in Chhattisgarh. “Both the accused were deliberately shifting locations across multiple states, including Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar, Punjab and Chhattisgarh, and were using fake Aadhaar cards to hide their identities and avoid police detection,” he added.

The DGP said that another police team arrested two more accused, namely Jobanpreet Singh, both from Mohali, with the help of State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) Mohali. He said Harpreet Singh alias Happy was arrested from Valtoha, while Kulwinder Singh alias Kinda and Armandeep Singh were arrested from Bhikhiwind area of ​​Tarn Taran. He added that investigations revealed that these five accused played a key role in the conspiracy by providing logistics, shelter, weapons and motorcycles to the attackers.