Sidhu Moosewala, Sudhir Suri, Balachauria, Jhota: Punjab’s most talked-about murders since AAP took charge
PTC Web Desk: Since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) formed the government in Punjab in 2022, several high-profile killings have shaken the state and fuelled a sustained political debate over law and order. The most recent is the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, which has again drawn national attention to the state’s security situation.
The early cases
The first major jolt came on May 29, 2022, when singer Sidhu Moosewala was gunned down in Mansa district. He was attacked a day after the state government withdrew his security cover. The case remains slow-moving in court. Although the police arrested 29 accused, the trial was still hearing the complainant, the singer’s father.
Months later, on November 4, 2022, Hindu right-wing leader Sudhir Suri was shot dead in Amritsar. He was killed during a sit-in outside a temple. The accused was caught on the spot, yet almost four years on, no verdict has been reported.
Timmy Chawla murder
Bhupinder Singh 'Timmy Chawla' was shot dead on December 7, 2022. The 39-year-old cloth merchant in Nakodar had police protection after extortion calls from a gangster. His gunman was also killed. He was the third police protectee killed in about a month.
Kanchan Kumari killing
Kanchan Kumari, alias Kamal Kaur, was a Ludhiana-based influencer whose body was found in her car in Bathinda, Punjab. She lived in Ludhiana’s Lachman colony and ran a channel called “Funny Bhabhi TV” with about 236,000 subscribers. The police said she was strangled on June 9, 2025. Her car was found abandoned in the parking lot of Adesh University in Bathinda district and she had been missing since June 9. The two men arrested soon afterward said they killed her for uploading “immoral and vulgar content that hurt the community’s sentiments.” The police said the alleged key accused, Amritpal Singh Mehron, fled to the UAE within hours.
Gang violence and the kabaddi circuit
Violence linked to organised crime has also touched Punjab’s sporting circles. Kabaddi player Tejpal Singh was killed in Jagraon in October 2025 and another player, Gurvinder Singh, was shot dead in Samrala the following month. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang later claimed responsibility for the second killing. On December 15, kabaddi promoter Rana Balachauria was shot dead during a tournament in Sohana, Mohali. The police have since arrested one of the shooters in Agartala, Tripura, and say the killers acted on the orders of foreign-based handlers.
Kabaddi’s dark underside exposes deep crime nexus in Punjab
The new year began with more targeted attacks. On January 4, 2026, AAP sarpanch Jarmal Singh was shot dead at a wedding function near Verka. He had reportedly faced extortion threats from a foreign-based gangster for over a year. Two days earlier, Hempreet Kaur, an NRI who had returned from abroad only a month before, was killed in a targeted shooting.
October 2026: Two killings in three days
On October 11, Assistant Sub-Inspector Iqbal Singh was shot dead in Tarn Taran district. Two days later, the Jhota killing sent shockwaves across the state. The activist was shot dead in Mansa after confronting a chemist over alleged drug sales and four of his companions were injured. The accused, Ashwani Kumar, was later arrested in Salasar, Rajasthan.
Anti-drug activist shot dead on FB Live after confronting chemist over alleged drug sales
The incident triggered widespread protest. A Punjab bandh was called and the accused’s house and medical store were demolished. On October 20, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that the case would be handed to the CBI, saying the government was accepting the family’s demand.
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