Seven held in Valtoha sarpanch murder case

Cracking the murder of former Valtoha sarpanch Jharmal Singh, the Police Commissionerate, Amritsar, has arrested seven accused. Police investigations have established gangster Prabh Dasuwal as the mastermind behind the murder, committed due to old enmity, underscoring the pre-planned and targeted nature of the crime.

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

The police said Sukhraj Singh alias Gunga has a prior criminal history and was also involved in the sarpanch Rajwinder Singh murder case.

Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said investigations revealed that gangster Prabh Dasuwal had an old enmity with the deceased (former sarpanch) and had even fired at him earlier, clearly indicating a pre-planned and well-orchestrated conspiracy. He said the case was taken up on the highest priority and multiple specialised teams were constituted to investigate the murder.

“The investigation, aided by a combination of technical surveillance and precise human intelligence, enabled police teams to identify both shooters Sukhraj Singh alias Gunga and Karamjeet Singh involved in the crime,” said the DGP.

He said sustained inter-state coordination, intelligence led tracking and close cooperation with Central agencies and the Chhattisgarh police led to the arrest of both shooters from Raipur in Chhattisgarh. “Both accused were deliberately changing locations across multiple states, including Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar, Punjab and Chhattisgarh, and were using forged Aadhaar cards to conceal their identity and evade police detection,” he said.

The DGP said another police team, with assistance from the SSOC, Mohali, arrested two more accused, both named Jobanpreet Singh, from Mohali. He said Harpreet Singh alias Happy was arrested from Valtoha, while Kulwinder Singh alias Kinda and Armandeep Singh were arrested from the Bhikhiwind area of Tarn Taran.

He added that investigations revealed these five accused played a crucial role in the conspiracy by providing logistics, shelter, weapons and a motorcycle to the shooters. DGP Gaurav Yadav said the probe has further revealed that the shooters and the accused providing logistical support did not know each other and were acting independently, solely on the instructions of Prabh Dasuwal.