Jaggu Bhagwanpuria's mother, cousin shot in Batala

The mother and cousin of jailed gangster Jagdeep Singh, alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, were shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants late on Thursday night.

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Harjit Kaur, mother of Bhagwanpuria, and her nephew, Karanvir Singh, were sitting in their vehicle in front of their house on the Batala-Qadian road when two persons came on a motorcycle and fired gunshots from point-blank range, said sources.

Both the victims sustained injuries on the face, chest and stomach. Karanvir succumbed to his injuries on the way to the Batala civil hospital, while Harjit Kaur died on her way to an Amritsar hospital where she had been referred by doctors at the civil hospital, said the sources.

Harjit Kaur was a former panchayat member of her Bhagwanpur village. Karanvir was the son of an ASI employed with the Batala police.

Investigators said he was one person whom the Bhagwanpuria family trusted the most.

Although senior officers were maintaining a silence, the sources said the intended target of the assailants was Karanvir Singh. “The accused had no intention to kill Bhagwanpuria’s mother. She accidentally came in the line of fire and was shot. Karanvir used to look after Bhagwanpuria’s money. Of all their relatives and friends, he was the most trusted man,” said a police officer.

CCTVs cameras installed nearby captured the crime. A video of the incident soon went viral after the firing.

In a social media post, the Davinder Bambiha gang took responsibility for the crime. Police sources said there were over half a dozen associates and friends of Bambiha, including some based abroad and some lodged in jails of Punjab, who are operating his gang.

Bambiha gang members posted that they had gunned down the duo in retaliation for the murder of Gurpreet Singh, alias Gora Bariyar.

Gora was killed by members of the Bhagwanpuria gang in a shootout near a petrol pump on the Ghuman-Sri Hargobindpur road in Batala police district in May.

Bhagwanpuria operates a syndicate which specialises in extortion and murder. It is said a majority of extortion calls made to Batala industrialists in the recent months had been made by his gang.

SSP Suhail Qasim Mir said the police had worked throughout the night in an attempt to crack the murders. “We have stumbled upon certain clues in the course of our investigation. We hope to nab the accused soon,” he said.

An FIR has been registered at the Civil Lines police station. The police have collected footage from several CCTV cameras installed on the Batala-Qadian road.

“We are also looking into the motive of the crime,” said the SSP.

Once a promising kabaddi player, Bhagwanpuria has been behind bars since 2015, with 128 cases against him, including murder, extortion, arms smuggling and drug trafficking.

After his arrest by the Narcotic Control Bureau in March under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, he was shifted from the high-security Bathinda jail to the Silchar central jail in Assam.

In the 2024 byelections to the Dera Baba Nanak Assembly seat, Harjit Kaur had openly worked for the AAP candidate. It is common knowledge that she openly threatened Congress workers and virtually ordered them to vote for the AAP candidate.

Complaint against MP, son

Meanwhile, a relative of Bhagwanpuria has filed a complaint with the Batala SSP claiming the attackers were in touch with Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa after committing the crime.

Rajwinder Kaur, sister of Harjit Kaur, has filed a complaint against the MP, his son Udayveer Singh Randhawa, Amandeep Singh Jaintipur, Ravinder Singh and Nirmal Singh.

Rajwinder, who said she was a witness to the murder, claims to be the sarpanch of Bhagwanpur village. She added that the assailants were in touch with the MP through video calls. The MP could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.