Nearly a year after social media influencer Kanchan Kumari, alias Kanchan Bhabhi, was murdered by religious vigilantes in Bathinda, the district police have identified the fifth accused in the crime.
Superintendent of police (SP, City) Narinder Singh said the absconding accused, Shamsher Singh, alias Shera, was a resident of Tarn Taran.
He said after establishing his identity, Shera had been nominated in the murder case and efforts were underway to arrest him. “Shera is an accomplice of another accused, Ranjit Singh, who is also from Tarn Taran. We cannot divulge more details as teams are working to arrest the remaining accused wanted in the crime,” said the SP.
The influencer was allegedly strangled to death by Sikh radical Amritpal Singh Mehron and his two Nihang accomplices, Jaspreet Singh and Nimratjit Singh, on the intervening night between June 9 and 10 last year in what police claimed was a case of “unauthorised moral policing”.
Her decomposing body was discovered in the parking lot of Adesh Medical College and Hospital in Bhucho, Bathinda, on June 11.
Jaspreet and Nimratjit were arrested on June 12 last year. Mehron, the alleged mastermind of the murder, was arrested last month after he was deported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The fourth accused, Ranjit, had allegedly helped Mehron reach the Amritsar airport soon after the crime. He was arrested in February this year.
Following Mehron’s arrest, a supplementary challan was submitted in a Bathinda court on Wednesday, Cantt station house officer (SHO) Raghbir Singh said. Police have not shared details of the challan.
