Highlights:
- Punjabi singer Inder Kaur was found dead a week after being kidnapped.
- The family accused Canada-based Sukhwinder Singh of planning the murder.
- Inder reportedly rejected his marriage proposal after learning he was married.
- Police arrested the accused’s father and one aide in the case.
- The victim’s body was recovered from the Sirhind Canal in Punjab.
Punjabi singer Yashinder Kaur, popularly known as Inder Kaur, was allegedly murdered after refusing a marriage proposal from a married man she met on Instagram, according to her family and police.
The 29-year-old singer’s body was recovered from the Sirhind Canal in Punjab’s Neelon area on Tuesday, nearly a week after she was allegedly abducted at gunpoint from Ludhiana.
Police said the victim’s family accused 37-year-old Sukhwinder Singh, a resident of Moga who is currently based in Canada, of planning the murder after Inder refused to continue their relationship. The family alleged that Sukhwinder was already married and had two children.
Inder Kaur had left singing about five years ago and was running a boutique and makeup studio. According to the family, she became friends with Sukhwinder Singh on Instagram around three years ago.
The family said they knew about the friendship, but tensions started after Inder learned that Sukhwinder was married. She reportedly refused to marry him or continue the relationship after discovering the truth.
According to her brother, Jotinder Singh, Inder left her home in Ludhiana’s Jamalpur colony at around 6.30 pm on May 13 in her white Ford Figo car to buy groceries. She did not return home afterward.
The family claimed that during their own search for her, they discovered that Sukhwinder Singh, along with his father Pritam Singh, his friend Karamjit Singh, and several unidentified people, allegedly intercepted and abducted her at gunpoint.
The family further alleged that Sukhwinder travelled from Canada to Punjab through Nepal to carry out the crime. They claimed he reached Nepal on April 29 and arrived in Punjab on May 2 after hiring two taxis from Moga for the operation.
According to the allegations, Inder was killed near the canal, and the suspect later escaped back to Canada using the same Nepal route.
Police recovered the decomposed body from the Sirhind Canal at around 11 am on May 19 after receiving a tip-off. Her family later identified the body. It was taken to Ludhiana civil hospital for a post-mortem examination. Police had earlier recovered her Ford Figo car from the canal.
Ludhiana Industrial Area-A assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Inderjit Singh Boparai confirmed that the body had been recovered and identified.
“The autopsy report is awaited to ascertain the cause of death,” said the ACP.
Police suspect the victim may have been stabbed to death with sharp-edged weapons.
The ACP said the investigation was continuing and officers were checking the allegations made by the family regarding the travel route, vehicles used, and the role of each suspect.
Police have arrested Pritam Singh and Karamjit Singh in connection with the case. Sukhwinder Singh is suspected to have fled to Canada.
The accused have been booked under Sections 103, 140 (1), and 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections 25, 27, 54, and 59 of the Arms Act. Police said more charges may be added as the investigation progresses.
