A video surfaced online Friday, days after the murder of social media influencer Kanchan Kumari alias Kamal Kaur “Bhabhi” in Bathinda in Punjab.
In it, Amritpal Singh Mehron, who claims to be the head of a radical vigilante group, said Kamal Kaur was killed by two of his associates due to “immoral and vulgar content” posted by her on social media. He alleged that this content defamed Sikh values and mocked her use of the surname “Kaur”. He also warned others creating “objectionable content” to refrain from such activities.
On Friday, the police arrested two of the accused in connection with the Punjabi influencer’s murder. Amritpal is currently absconding, the police said.
Amritpal, 30, is a bike mechanic from the Mehron village of Moga district. In the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, he contested the Tarn Taran seat on a Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) ticket. He managed only 6,363 votes, and his security deposit was forfeited. He later parted ways with the party.
Dilbagh Singh Patti, the senior vice-president of SAD (Amritsar) in Tarn Taran, said Amritpal had left their party to form his own outfit.
Amritpal outfit is called “Qaum De Rakhe (protectors of the community)”. Sources said it is a radical vigilante group aligned with the Nihang Sikh traditions, which has been engaged in “moral policing”.
Nihang is an order of Sikh warriors, characterised by blue robes, arms such as swords and spears, and decorated turbans surmounted by steel quoits.
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Not much is known about Amritpal’s personal life, but his social media presence is active. He operates two Instagram accounts with 351,000 and 398,000 followers respectively and frequently posts videos condemning “obscene” content. He also routinely shared his views on Sikh traditions and culture.
In his latest video, posted on Friday, Mehron said another content creator, Deepika Luthra, would meet Kaur’s “fate” if she does not stop posting “vulgar content”.
Luthra told the media she had deleted the “objectionable” videos, apologised to Amritpal, and feared for the safety of her family. She said she would approach the police for protection.
Amritpal’s 2022 election affidavit says he completed class 12 in Moga and followed that up with a diploma in diesel mechanics.
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The affidavit shows a number of criminal charges against Amritpal. In 2020, in a case filed in Amritsar, he was booked for vandalising statues near the Golden Temple.
A year later, he was booked along with one Nimratjeet Singh for threatening a music producer for “posting obscene content” in Barnala.
And in Ludhiana the following year, he was booked for threatening state Congress leader Raja Warring. Warring had raised objections to a picture of Amritpal Mehron along with Khadoor Sahib MP and radical leader Amritpal Singh brandishing weapons.
Kaur’s murder has caused a stir in Punjab, and put the state police department on high alert. Her decomposed body was found Wednesday evening in an abandoned car in the parking area of Adesh University in Bathinda, three days after she left her house to attend a promotional event, but later went missing. The 30-year-old influencer, had an account under the name “Kamal Kaur Bhabhi” on Instagram with 3.87 lakh followers. She operated a YouTube channel called “Funny Bhabhi TV”, which had 2.7 lakh subscribers and another account on facebook with 7.7 lakh followers.
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Kaur, who is originally from Uttar Pradesh, has been living in Punjab for several years. Sources said the accused also wanted her to remove the surname “Kaur” from her social media handles.
