Jailed Punjab gangster’s mother killed, police point to rival gang
Senior police officials visited the scene and have begun investigations. Checkpoints have been set up in the area to trace the accused. Police say the motive behind the attack is under investigation.
4 min read
In March this year, Bhagwanpuria was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from Bathinda Central Jail and transferred to Silchar Jail in Assam. (File)Marking an ominous first in Punjab, the mother of an alleged gang leader succumbed to gunshot injuries late Thursday night in what state police described as a “targeted attack” hours earlier in Gurdaspur by members of a rival group.
According to police, Harjit Kaur (52), the mother of Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, died after being referred to a hospital in Amritsar. She was shot at by three unidentified men on a motorcycle who opened fire at a parked car in which she was seated, outside a bakery on Kadian Road in the Urban Estate area of Batala, they said.
“It is rare when gangsters attack a rival’s family members, that too a woman,” a police officer said.
Another man, identified as Karanvir Singh, who was in the driver’s seat of the car, was declared dead at Batala Civil Hospital, police said.
Kaur was a former sarpanch of Bhagwanpur village. Her son is facing 128 criminal cases and is currently lodged in a jail in Assam’s Silchar. Karanvir, the other victim, was a resident of Bhikhowal village and reportedly close to the Bhagwanpuria family.
According to police, a rival group known as the Bambiha gang claimed responsibility for the attack in a Facebook post although they only mentioned Karanvir as their target.
In the social media post, three alleged members of the Bambiha gang — identified as Doni Bal Billa Manga, Prabhu Dasuwal and Kaushal Chaudhary — claimed that the shooting was retribution for the killing of their associate Gurpreet Singh Bariyar outside a petrol pump in Batala on May 26, 2025. They also accused Karanvir of handling Jaggu Bhagwanpuria’s finances and weapons. Dasuwal and Chaudhary are from Haryana.
“We received information about the incident at 10.45 pm (Thursday) and reached the spot immediately,” said Punjab Police DSP Parmveer Singh. Kaur was on her way back home in Batala after visiting Bhagwanpur village when the attack occurred, police said.
Kaur, who was sarpanch in 2018, had earlier drawn attention for her public advocacy on behalf of Bhagwanpuria. She had petitioned courts seeking security arrangements for her son in custody, including bulletproof vehicles and jackets. However, in 2023, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed her request. Bhagwanpuria was shifted to Assam from Bathinda in March 2025.
Apart from Bhagwanpuria, Kaur is survived by another son who lives in Australia. Her sister Rajwinder Kaur is the current sarpanch of Bhagwanpur.
According to police sources, the Bambiha gang holds sway in the Malwa region of Punjab while Bhagwanpuria is powerful in the Majha area. Both gangs developed a rivalry after accusing each other of usurping territory, an officer said.
According to police records, the cases against Bhagwanpuria include charges of murder, extortion, arms smuggling and gang-related violence. His name was also linked to the 2022 murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala in which he allegedly sided with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
Harjit Kaur is believed to have been linked to various ruling parties in the state. According to a police report of 2020, she had allegedly facilitated communication between her jailed son and voters during the 2019 general elections, including video calls from her phone. During the 2024 elections, Congress leaders accused her of intimidating local voters in favour of AAP — a charge the ruling party denied.
Kaur was also named in an FIR related to the suspicious death of her daughter-in-law, Harmanprabh Sharanpreet Kaur, in 2019. Besides, she and her son were allegedly linked to the killing of a man identified as Satnam Singh alias Satta, whose body was recovered from a canal.
Even as police investigations into Thursday’s attack continue, authorities have not ruled out further violence amid rising tensions between Punjab’s criminal syndicates – with multiple gangs parting ways, leading to new rivalries.
For instance, police sources said, Bhagwanpuria and Bishnoi are believed to have parted ways. In a 2023 clash inside the Goindwal jail, Bhagwanpuria’s aides Mandeep Toofan and Mohana Mansa were killed. Bishnoi’s then associate, Goldy Brar, had claimed responsibility for the incident.
According to sources, the Bambiha group has been at loggerheads with the trio of Bishnoi, Brar and Bhagwanpuria.
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