Two men have been arrested in connection with the murder of YouTuber Kanchan Kumari, alias Kamal Kaur, Bathinda police Friday said. A third accused, who is also the main conspirator and who claimed ‘moral responsibility’ of the murder, is absconding, they said.
Kaur’s decomposed body was found Wednesday evening in an abandoned car in the parking area of Adesh University in Bathinda, three days after she left her house to attend a promotional event, but later went missing.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Amneet Kondal identified the arrested accused as Jaspreet Singh (32) of Mehron village in Moga and Nimratjit Singh (21) of Patti in Tarn Taran. Amritpal Singh Mehron, also from Mehron village, and a self-styled Sikh radical leader, is absconding, the SSP said.
“A SUV used in the crime has been recovered. Amritpal and Nimratjit have two and one FIRs pending against them, respectively, registered at Amritsar and Dhanaula police stations,” SSP told the media.
During the preliminary probe, the arrested men said they killed her for uploading “immoral and vulgar content that hurt the community’s sentiments”. Sources said the accused also wanted her to remove the surname ‘Kaur’ from her social media handles.
The 30-year-old influencer, had an account under the name ‘Kamal Kaur Bhabhi’ on Instagram with 3.87 lakh followers. She operated a YouTube channel called ‘Funny Bhabhi TV,’ which had 2.7 lakh subscribers and another account on facebook with 7.7 lakh followers.
According to the police, Kaur’s mother, Girja Devi, informed them that on the night of June 7, Amritpal visited their home in Ludhiana on the pretext of a business meeting and invited Kaur to travel to Bathinda for a paid promotional event. Amritpal allegedly returned on June 8, but Kaur refused. On June 9, Girija Devi told the police, Jaspreet and Nimratjit came to their home, after which Kaur left with them. Girja Devi told the police that after 11 pm on June 9, she lost all contact with her daughter.
According to the police, at around 1 am on June 10, Jaspreet and Nimratjit allegedly drove Kaur to a deserted location where they strangulated her. The accused then placed the body in Kaur’s car and Jaspreet drove it to parking lot at around 5.30 am on June 10. he parked the car and fled with Nimratjit, who had followed in a separate vehicle, the police added.
Kaur’s body was discovered Wednesday night when locals informed the police about a foul smell emanating from the car. The body was brought to the civil hospital mortuary, and her mother identified it the next day. The family cremated the body on Thursday.
An FIR was registered under sections 103 (murder), 238 (disappearance), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Cantonment police station. The police reviewed CCTV footage from nearby areas and utilised intelligence and technical inputs to solve the case.
SSP Kondal constituted multiple investigation teams that soon tracked down Jaspreet and Nimratjit. They will be produced in court to seek police remand for further interrogation. “More revelations are expected during their custodial interrogation,” SSP Kondal said.
Kaur stayed in a modest 125-square-yard home in Ludhiana’s underdeveloped Giaspura area. Her father passed away around two years ago. She had three sisters and two brothers.
Meanwhile, a video surfaced on social media in which Mehron is purportedly heard claiming that Kaur was killed by two of his Nihang associates due to her “immoral and vulgar content” on social media, which he said defamed Sikh values and “mocked” the use of the surname “Kaur.” He also warned others creating “objectionable content” to refrain from such activities.
In the video, posted from an undisclosed location, Mehron said: “It must not be felt that parking lots are only in Bathinda; they are in every city. Also, it must not be felt that a dead body is recovered every time”.
Mehron said in the past another influencer, Deepika Luthra and her team, had promised to stop posting objectionable content, but have now backtracked.
Luthra, however, told reporters in Amritsar that she had already removed such content and submitted an apology to Faridkot police. She said she now fears for her and her family’s safety. “Mehron himself had deleted the content by taking my phone in his hands. Now, I am being threatened to delete my Instagram account,” she said, adding that she will be approaching police again in light of the recent threats.
SSP Kondal said police are actively tracking Mehron and have already raided his residence in Moga. “He was not found at his house, but multiple raids are being conducted. The fresh video and the threats that he has issued are also under investigation,” she said.
Mehron, who unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, on a Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) ticket, was previously booked in an attempt to murder case in Amritsar. He and Nimratjit were also booked in a case in Dhanaula police station in Barnala district under charges of wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt, etc.
Mehron claims to lead a group called Qaum De Rakhe, believed to be aligned with Nihang Sikh traditions. The group had previously engaged in self-declared “religious policing.”
