Two Nihangs held for social media influencer’s murder

The Bathinda police on Friday arrested two Nihangs in the murder case of social media influencer Kanchan Kumari, saying the killing was the result of “moral policing”.

SSP Amneet Kondal said the suspects had earlier warned Kanchan, popular as Kamal Kaur Bhabhi, over her content, which they found objectionable. “Key conspirator Amritpal Singh Mehron had asked her to stop posting ‘vulgar’ videos and had planned to teach her a lesson. He, along with others, hatched a conspiracy and they strangled her to death at an isolated location on Tuesday,” said the SSP.

Jaspreet Singh (32) of Mehron village in Moga and Nimarjeet Singh (21) of Harike village in Tarn Taran have been arrested in the case. Mehron is absconding.

Canada-based terrorist Arsh Dalla had too in October last year threatened Kanchan with dire consequences if she did not stop posting “inappropriate videos”.

The SSP said Mehron had approached Kanchan at her Ludhiana residence on June 7, offering some promotional work in Bathinda. “He visited her again the next day and convinced her to visit Bathinda. On June 9, he contacted her again. After 11 pm on Monday, her mother lost all contact with her,” said the officer. On Wednesday night, her decomposed body was found in her car parked outside Adesh University.

During investigation, the police gathered CCTV camera footage and used human intelligence to trace the accused.

“The accused had lured her to a workshop on the pretext of repairing her car. During an argument, Jaspreet, who was wearing a waistband under his shirt, strangled her,” claimed the SSP. She confirmed that the murder was pre-planned and executed with full coordination. The body was later dumped in her car to mislead the police.

The SSP said the victim’s mother, Girija Devi, identified the body. The victim had nearly 4 lakh followers on Instagram and frequently posted reels and stories.

Girija told the police that her daughter used to travel often for promotional work. Kanchan belonged to a family of migrant workers but used to speak Punjabi fluently.

No proof yet of accused’s ties with Arsh Dalla: SSP

The SSP said those held had not yet confessed to their association with terrorist Arsh Dalla. “Kanchan never lodged a complaint with the police against Amritpal or any of his aides for threatening her in the past. That’s why she agreed to come to Bathinda. Further, they ate pizza here and also went to a workshop for the repair of her car,” said the SSP.

Just 3 kin, social activists attended cremation

Kanchan was cremated here on Thursday evening in the presence of three family members — her mother, brother and sister — a few others, including activists of NGO Sahara Jan Sewa.

Bathinda SP (City) Narinder Singh said the body was in a badly decomposed state due to which it could not be taken to her home in Ludhiana.

Punjab