Punjabi singer found dead after six-day hunt
What began as a routine trip to buy groceries ended in a chilling murder mystery that stretched from Ludhiana to Canada through Nepal. Six days after Punjabi singer Inder Kaur, alias Yashinder Kaur, disappeared in her white Ford Figo car, her decomposed body was pulled out of the Neelon canal on Tuesday, exposing what police describe as a carefully planned murder allegedly executed by a Canada-based man obsessed with marrying her.
The grim discovery came barely a day after divers recovered her car from the same canal, deepening suspicions that the victim had been murdered and dumped along with the vehicle to erase evidence. Investigators now believed that the accused travelled thousands of kilometres with a single motive — to eliminate the woman who had rejected him after discovering he was already married and a father of two.
Police have named 37-year-old Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukha, a native of Mahlan Khurd village in Moga and a PR holder living in Calgary, Canada, as the prime accused. Two of his alleged accomplices — his father, Pritam Singh, and friend Karamjit Singh of Bhaloor village — have been arrested, while Sukhwinder remains on the run.
ACP Inderjit Singh Boparai said that the accused had allegedly come from Canada “specifically to execute the murder”. According to investigators, Sukhwinder first landed in Kathmandu on April 30 before entering India on May 2. After reaching Punjab, he allegedly hired two taxis from Moga and began tracking the victim’s movements. Police said that he fled back towards Nepal the same night after the murder and later escaped to Canada.
Insta Friendship, Forced Marriage Pressure
Preliminary inquiry revealed that Yashinder and Sukhwinder had become friends through Instagram nearly five years ago when she was active in the music industry. The friendship gradually developed into a relationship, and Sukhwinder frequently visited her home whenever he came to India.
Relatives said that he had even attended Yashinder’s birthday celebrations on January 13 this year and had earlier promised to marry her. However, the relationship began collapsing after the singer discovered that he was already married and had two children in Canada.
Police sources said that Yashinder had firmly refused marriage after learning the truth, but Sukhwinder allegedly continued pressuring her.
Kidnapping angle under probe
According to the complaint filed by Inder’s brother, Jotinder Singh, at Jamalpur police station, Sukhwinder, along with armed associates, abducted Yashinder at gunpoint on May 13 with the intention to kill her. Police initially registered an FIR for kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, and Arms Act violations against Sukhwinder and his aides. Murder charges were added later after the body was recovered from the canal.
However, investigators are also probing another version presented by some relatives, who claimed that Yashinder may have voluntarily accompanied Sukhwinder to drop him somewhere before the two allegedly argued.
Cause of death still unclear
Police said that the exact cause of death remains unknown and will only be confirmed after the post-mortem examination at Samrala Civil Hospital.
Investigators are trying to determine whether Yashinder was shot dead or attacked with a sharp-edged weapon before her body was dumped into the canal.
The recovery of both the body and the submerged car (Ford Figo) has intensified the investigation, with police now reconstructing the victim’s final movements and tracking the escape route allegedly used by the absconding NRI accused.
