ASI Murdered & Kapurthala Jail Violence; Canada Busts Panjabi Extortion Gang

May

2026

Panjab Police Assistant Sub-Inspector Joga Singh was found dead with a gunshot injury on Fatehgarh Churian–Majithia road in Amritsar on 24 May. ASI Joga Singh was posted in the traffic wing of the Amritsar Police Commissionerate and was on his way to duty when he was killed. An outfit called Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan (TTH) put out a poster the same evening claiming responsibility for the murder. The same outfit had claimed responsibility for the murder of two policemen in Adhian village, Gurdaspur district in February 2026. However, not taking the poster at face value, Senior Superintendent of Police, Amritsar (Rural), Suhail Mir Qasim said that police are investigating all aspects of the case. Meanwhile, on 23 May night inmates In Kapurthala jail vandalized barracks, damaged prison infrastructure and attempted to set parts of the jail on fire following a confrontation that spiraled. While two inmates received injuries during police cane charge, another was hit by a tear gas shell. The unrest was mainly confined to Block No. 4 of the prison. Some prisoners also climbed onto the jail rooftop before security personnel managed to bring the situation under control. The jail has 4K prisoners, including undertrials. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikramjit Singh Majithia alleged that gang wars, explosions, jail violence, and lawlessness were becoming frequent under the current administration. Former Panjab Deputy Chief Minister from Indian National Congress Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also criticized the government, stating that if even high-security jails were turning into battlegrounds, it raised serious concerns about public safety. Parallelly, Panjab police have arrested a resident of Chakk Dhariwal village, Pathankot district, Baljit Singh who installed a CCTV camera at a shop located near a bridge on the National Highway-44 to allegedly keep an eye on the movement of the army and paramilitary forces while transmitting the live feed to Pakistan-based handlers. Alongside, Canada's Peel Regional Police have arrested 17 men, mostly of Panjabi origin, busting an international criminal group targeting South Asian businesses in Canada and US. The FBI and multiple Canadian agencies were involved in the investigation that led to the dismantling of the network. The majority of these suspects have ties to a global criminal network known as For Brothers (earlier coverage).