3 min readAmritsarJul 2, 2026 09:33 PM IST
First published on: Jul 2, 2026 at 02:00 PM IST
The Punjab Police have sought to discharge a man they projected as a key operative of an international terror funding network in connection with the February 22, 2026, killings of an assistant sub-Inspector and a home guard at a checkpost in Adhian village, barely 2 km from the India-Pakistan border, in Gurdaspur district.
After Assistant Sub-Inspector Gurnam Singh and Home Guard Ashok Kumar were shot dead at close range while on duty, the police concluded the killings were orchestrated by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which allegedly recruited locals to carry out the attack in exchange for money. By late February, the police identified three suspects. While two of them—Dilawar Singh and Inderjit Singh—were arrested, the third, Ranjit Singh, was killed in an alleged police encounter.
Invoking multiple sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, including terror-financing provisions, the police then named an alleged money conduit for the operation: Sukhjinder Singh alias Heera, owner of a restaurant and an immigration consultancy in Kadian.
‘Rs 8 lakh transferred on foreign handler’s direction’
According to the case file, Sukhjinder Singh gave a detailed confession to the police describing how a foreign-based handler he identified only as “AD” repeatedly called him on his mobile number and instructed him to hand over cash to specific local men who allegedly executed the crime. Over several months, he allegedly said, he paid out roughly Rs 8 lakh in tranches—Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2 lakh, another Rs 2 lakh, then a final Rs 1 lakh—to Ranjit Singh, Inderjit Singh alias Shah, Dilawar Singh, and Sarwan Singh alias Billi, all on AD’s direction. The final payment was made after the double murder was executed.
Sukhjinder allegedly told the police that AD had explicitly informed him that the men had links to “foreign terrorists/smugglers” and were engaged in terror financing.
Sukhjinder Singh’s confession was also recorded in the presence of Naib Tehsildar Dalvinder Singh of Dinanagar, who acted as the duty magistrate. A statement made before a magistrate carries far greater evidentiary weight in court than one made only to investigating officers. He gave specific mobile numbers, including a foreign contact number that AD had used to coordinate the payments.
The police had independently corroborated the final Rs 1 lakh payment, made on February 24, 2026, on Railway Road, Batala.
Now, the final chargesheet in the case, filed in a court on June 8, 2026, stated that no evidence was found against Sukhjinder and sought his discharge. However, the case records show that the police had built a detailed evidentiary trail against him.
When contacted by The Indian Express, Gurdaspur SSP Aditya said that Sukhjinder was extended “good faith service” on the basis that his “intention” was not established and that he lacked knowledge of what the money he transferred was actually for.
The police still don’t know who placed the murder weapon at the spot from where the accused had allegedly procured it and executed the killings. In the final chargesheet, they have named only those who were allegedly involved directly in the crime, not conspirators.
The checkpost at Adhian where two police personnel were shot dead in February. (Express Photo by Kamaldeep Singh Brar) 
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