Bathinda court gives Sikh hardliner Amritpal Singh Mehron 30 days to join probe in influencer murder case

A Bathinda district court on Monday served a 30-day notice to Sikh hardliner Amritpal Singh Mehron, understood to be hiding in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and his associate Ranjit Singh, to surrender and join the legal process for their alleged roles in the murder of digital content creator Kanchan Kumari alias Kanchan Bhabhi.

The influencer had allegedly been strangled to death by Mehron and his two Nihang accomplices, Jaspreet Singh and Nimratjit Singh, on the night of June 9 and 10, in what police claimed was a case of “unauthorised moral policing”. Her body was discovered in the parking lot of Adesh Medical College and Hospital in Bhucho, Bathinda, on June 11.

Mehron had fled to Amritsar, from where he took a flight to UAE, just hours after the murder. While Jaspreet and Nimratjit were subsequently arrested, Ranjit is wanted for helping Mehron flee.

During a hearing on December 1, additional chief judicial magistrate Gurkiral Singh Sekhon had observed that the non-bailable warrants served against the accused had returned unexecuted. “The court is satisfied that the accused are absconding intentionally to evade arrest and cannot be summoned through ordinary process,” the order issued early this month read.

After Monday’s hearing, cantonment police station SHO Daljit Singh Dhaliwal said notices have been pasted outside the residence of the two fugitives – Mehron and Ranjit. “The deadline of 30 days fixed by the court will begin from today (Monday),” added the SHO.

If the duo fail to surrender within the set deadline, the court may pronounce them proclaimed offenders. Police officials said that after the pronouncement of the accused as PO, investigators can get the Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice against Mehron, and attach his properties. Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amneet Kondal said on Monday that the state authorities are still working in coordination with central agencies to extradite Mehron from the UAE with the intervention of Interpol.