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Punjab Police crack Valtoha AAP sarpanch murder, 7 held
Two shooters airlifted from Chhattisgarh; 110 km of CCTV trail and links to foreign-based handlers exposed in cross-country manhunt.
In a multi-state crackdown, Punjab Police on Monday announced the arrest of seven individuals, including two primary shooters, in connection with the murder of Jarmal Singh, the AAP-affiliated sarpanch of Valtoha village, on January 4.
The investigation, involving the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) and Counter Intelligence units, spanned Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh.
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that the hit was masterminded by handlers based abroad.
The key breakthrough came when a specialised team tracked the two shooters, Sukhraj Singh and Karmjit Singh, to a hideout in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The duo is being brought to Amritsar by air for interrogation.
“The operation relied on a massive technical sweep. Our investigators analysed 110km of CCTV footage to reconstruct the shooters’ escape route,” the DGP said.
Other arrested suspects include modules from Mohali, Tarn Taran, and Jharkhand, indicating a sophisticated, decentralised network.
Jarmal Singh was shot at point-blank range during a wedding at a resort near Amritsar’s Verka Bypass on January 4. The brazen attack occurred in the presence of Aam Aadmi Party’s Khemkaran MLA Sarwan Singh Dhun, sending shockwaves through the border district. While the DGP attributed the motive to “personal enmity”, the logistical scale points to a coordinated gang operation.
The arrests follow the January 6 encounter near Bhikhiwind, where the Tarn Taran police neutralised Harnoor Singh, alias Noor. Police sources confirmed that Harnoor, a key aide of the Prabh Dasuwal and Afridi gangs, had conducted the recce for the sarpanch’s killing.
The Afridi gang has been increasingly active in the Majha region, often acting as the execution arm for foreign-based handlers looking to settle local scores.
The Valtoha sarpanch murder represents a growing trend in Punjab where local disputes are escalated via international handlers. By using hired guns from states like Jharkhand and hiding them in Chhattisgarh, gangs are attempting to exploit jurisdictional gaps, a tactic the Punjab Police counteracted here through central agency coordination.
