Punjabi singer Inder Kaur was found dead in a canal in Punjab’s Ludhiana district, six days after she was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint, police said on Tuesday.
The body of the 29-year-old singer was recovered from the Neelo Canal during the early hours of Tuesday and shifted to the Civil Hospital in Samrala for post-mortem examination.
According to a police complaint filed by the victim’s brother, Jotinder Singh, Inder had left her residence in her Ford Figo car around 8.30 pm on May 13 to buy groceries but did not return home, according to a News18 report.
The family alleged that Sukhwinder Singh, alias Sukha, a resident of Bhaloor village in Moga district, was behind her disappearance. They claimed he had been pressuring the singer to marry him.
Police said Inder and Sukhwinder had come in contact through Instagram around three years ago and later became friends. However, the singer reportedly cut ties with him after learning that he was already married and had children. Her rejection of his marriage proposal allegedly led to hostility between the two.
Investigators suspect that Sukhwinder travelled from Canada to Punjab via Nepal to execute the crime. Police alleged that on May 13, he and his accomplices intercepted the singer’s vehicle, abducted her at gunpoint, murdered her and dumped the body in the canal before fleeing back to Canada through the Nepal route.
The victim’s family questioned the police response to the case, stating that an FIR against Sukhwinder Singh and his associate, Karamjit Singh, had been registered at Jamalpur Police Station on May 15 and that timely intervention could have saved her life.
Jamalpur Police Station SHO Balbir Singh said a case had been registered under relevant sections and efforts were underway to trace and arrest the accused and their accomplices.
Born in 1997, Inder Kaur was a Punjab-based singer and makeup artist who had built a growing presence in the Punjabi music industry. She had released several songs, including Afghan Jatti, Sohna Lagda, Laanedaarni, Desi Sirre De, Sone Di Wang, Kisaan Anthem, Jija, Rich Standard, Aakad, and Kado Ti Milegi.
The singer had more than 1,24,000 followers on Instagram at the time of her death.