4 min readLudhianaFeb 16, 2026 04:11 AM IST
First published on: Feb 15, 2026 at 04:27 PM IST
Five days after three bike-borne assailants brazenly opened fire at a group of migrant labourers on Zira Road in Moga district, sending panic waves among Uttar Pradesh and Bihar migrants working in Punjab, the police on Sunday held two alleged shooters after an encounter.
Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Gandhi said that a handler based abroad had hatched a “conspiracy” to attack migrants to “create unrest and disharmony in Punjab”, for which the local men were hired.
The police identified the arrested men as Jobanpreet Singh alias Joban from Bhangali Khurd, Naraingarh, Ferozepur district, and Akashdeep Singh from Thamanwala village of Moga district.
Gandhi said that the police had established a checkpoint on Ghal Kalan Link Road following a tip-off and that when the two suspects were signalled to stop their motorcycle, “they opened fire at the police party”.
“The police also opened fire in self-defence. One of the accused, Jobanpreet, received a bullet injury in the left leg while Akashdeep also got injured as he was chased and nabbed in a bid to escape,” he said.
Gandhi said the duo were the “main shooters” who opened fire at the migrant labourers and that the police had identified a third person who “made a video of the incident (which was later uploaded on Instagram)”. The accomplice is yet to be arrested.
Gandhi said that two other accused—Lakhwinder Singh and Sukhvir Singh—had already been arrested in the case. “Both are from Ferozepur district and had provided the weapons to the shooters, and also given them a shelter after the incident,” he said. “The entire conspiracy was woven by a foreign-based handler to create unrest in Punjab and create disharmony.”
Lakhwinder Singh is said to be the sarpanch of a village in Ferozepur district, but the police are yet to verify the details.
In a first-of-its-kind criminal activity in the state on Tuesday, a group of migrants from UP and Bihar, who worked at a rice sheller in Moga, were walking towards their room on Zira Road when three bike-borne men opened fire at them indiscriminately. Two Bihar natives—Ashok and Subodh—were injured in the firing. The accused not just fired, flashing two weapons, but also filmed the entire incident and later uploaded it on Instagram from the account of one Nirvair Singh.
Warning about more such incidents
In the Instagram post, they also warned of more such incidents “if UP-Bihar bhaiyyas” were not driven out of Punjab and said the migrants “were spoiling Punjab’s atmosphere by committing crimes”. The post also made inflammatory remarks against UP-Bihar migrants and said that they would not be allowed to live in the state.
The Moga police said that a bike and two 30-bore pistols were recovered from the two alleged shooters and that a fresh FIR for attempted murder was registered against them at the Sadar Moga police station for “opening fire at a police party”.
Earlier, the FIR related to the firing on the migrants was registered at the same police station, on charges of attempted murder.
Jobanpreet was previously booked for a theft at Sri Muktsar Sahib in 2024, according to the police.
The Instagram post uploaded after the firing on the migrants claimed that the shooters were from the “Devinder Bambiha” gang.
However, Gandhi said, “Their association with any gangster group is still being verified.”
Moga SSP Ajay Gandhi at the spot where two alleged shooters of migrant labourers were held after an encounter. (Photo by special arrangement) 
Share
