An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) with the counter-intelligence wing was shot dead late Sunday evening by two men on a motorcycle as he headed home after duty. Iqbal Singh, 55, is the fifth policeman killed in Punjab this year.
Iqbal, who lived in Naushera Pannuan, about 15 km from Tarn Taran, was hit by at least two bullets and died at the spot. The attackers fled and have not yet been identified.
Tarn Taran SSP Surendra Lamba said the ASI, who was posted in Makhu (70 km from Amritsar), was being tailed by two men on a bike. They fired two to three rounds at him on Louhka Road in Tarn Taran district between 6:15 pm and 6:30 pm. The SSP added that police have some leads and expect to trace the accused soon.
Targeted attack suspected
Initial information suggests Iqbal was returning from a “private visit” and was not in uniform, the SSP said. A senior police officer noted that Iqbal’s nephew, Ajmeet Singh, was an accused in the 2022 Sarhali police station RPG attack case and was shot dead in Naushera Pannuan on Sept 11 while out on bail.
Sources say investigators are checking whether the two killings are linked. The man accused of killing Ajmeet was injured in a police encounter and later arrested. A senior officer said police are looking into an organised crime angle and possible revenge killings by gangsters.
Police are also examining a social media post in which gangsters Doni Bal, Prabh Dasuwal, Mohabbat Randhawa, Afridi Toot, Amar Khabbe and Shaganpreet purportedly claimed responsibility. The post alleged that the ASI was close to their rival Landa Harike and hinted at revenge for the murder of a sarpanch. The same group had claimed responsibility for Ajmeet’s killing.
Iqbal had earlier served with the Ferozepur counter-intelligence unit and was transferred to Tarn Taran recently. The SSP said it is highly likely that this was a targeted killing by an organised crime network, and that all angles are being probed.
Series of attacks on police
The murder is the latest in a string of attacks on police personnel in Punjab:
- Feb 22: ASI Gurnam Singh and home guard Ashok Kumar were shot dead inside a police station in Gurdaspur.
- May 24: ASI Joga Singh was shot dead in Majitha.
- Sept 12: ASI Jaswant Singh narrowly survived an attempt on his life in Amritsar.
- Sept 17: ASI Harjit Singh was shot dead in Amritsar.
- Oct 4: ASI Sukhchain Singh was wounded after being shot at in Ajnala.
Opposition slams state government
The attacks have drawn criticism from opposition parties. Former Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said Punjab is “bleeding” and that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s government has serious questions to answer. He asked what security ordinary citizens can expect when police themselves are being targeted.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon wrote on X that even people in uniform are unsafe in the state, contrasting the government’s advertising claims on law and order with bloodshed on the streets.
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that Mann has badly failed to maintain law and order, accusing him of criticising opponents and joking while killers ambush police personnel.
